1 B1 neutral
To move away from a place slowly and with a shuffling gait.
"The old man shuffled off toward the kitchen, mumbling to himself."
inseparable
shuffle off
B2 neutral mixed transitive/intransitive
To move away in a slow, reluctant manner; to escape from or transfer a duty or problem onto someone else; also used in the famous phrase 'shuffle off this mortal coil'.
In plain English
To slowly walk away, or to pass something you don't want onto someone else.
What does "shuffle off" mean?
3 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
2 B2 idiomatic informal
To pass on or evade a responsibility, blame, or unwanted task.
"He tried to shuffle off the work onto a junior colleague at the last minute."
separable
3 C1 idiomatic formal
(Literary/humorous) To die — from 'shuffle off this mortal coil'.
"The journalist joked that the old political party had finally shuffled off this mortal coil."
“
To be, or not to be... Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer... or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them. To die, to sleep — no more; and by a sleep to say we end the heartache... For in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil.
— William Shakespeare, 'Hamlet', Act III, Scene 1 (c. 1600)
inseparable
Literal vs figurative
Words literally mean
To shuffle (walk with dragging feet) off a place — transparent in the literal sense.
Actually means
To slowly walk away, or to pass something you don't want onto someone else.
Usage tip
Has three main uses: (1) to move away by shuffling, (2) to evade or transfer a problem/duty, and (3) the literary/humorous idiom 'shuffle off this mortal coil' (to die), from Shakespeare's Hamlet. Sense 3 is well-known even to non-literary audiences.
Words that pair with "shuffle off"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
responsibility blame coil stage mortal question
How to conjugate "shuffle off"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Base
shuffle off
I/you/we/they
3rd person
shuffles off
he/she/it
Past simple
shuffled off
yesterday
Past participle
shuffled off
have + pp
-ing form
shuffling off
continuous
Hear "shuffle off" in the wild
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