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to mouth off
01
to complain or speak loudly in an immoderate way
Slang
Grammatical Information
Composition
phrasal
Action verb
Regular
Inseparable
Particle
off
Base verb
mouth
Present tense
mouth off
3rd person singular
mouths off
Present participle
mouthing off
Past simple
mouthed off
Past participle
mouthed off
Examples
He mouthed off about the bad food the entire night.
02
to speak rudely or disrespectfully, especially to someone in authority
Slang
What does "to mouth off" mean in slang?
The phrase "to mouth off" means to speak in a rude, disrespectful, or aggressive way, often toward someone in authority or someone trying to give direction. The structure uses "mouth" to refer to speaking and "off" to imply speaking out of turn or without restraint. It is commonly used in informal speech to describe backtalk, defiance, or unnecessarily sharp responses.
Examples
She mouthed off to the teacher and got detention.
