TOUCHED OFF Synonyms: 68 Similar and Opposite Words

touched off

verb

past tense of touch off

as in activated

to cause to function his obscene comment touched off a heated debate about the need for censorship on live broadcasts

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Recent Examples of touched off CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks were our two biggest winners last week — both up more than 11% as news of the security flaws in the PHP programming language touched off a global security scramble. — Alexa Lomonaco, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2026 The meeting touched off a month of around-the-clock calls and video conferences. — Cate Brown, ProPublica, 21 Oct. 2026 Trump then went on to describe element of the ad, which has touched off a furor. — Marisela Cruz Jillian Anthony Marisela Cruz, New York Times, 21 Oct. 2026 Trump’s tariffs on Canada, for example, have touched off a trade war with one of the United States’ closest allies. — Kim Hjelmgaard, USA Today, 5 Sep. 2026 Not since voters passed Proposition 13, an iconic property tax limit, in 1978 and touched off tax revolts in other states has a California measure potentially affected America’s taxation policies so broadly. — Dan Walters, Mercury News, 27 Aug. 2026 The controversy was touched off by a New York Post report that Gordillo lives in a spacious Bedford-Stuyvesant dwelling bought by his parents that is now undergoing renovations. — Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 24 Aug. 2026 Meanwhile, an electric color palette of zingy greens, bold reds, and Prussian blues–touched off with plenty of black accents–amplifies the property’s wildly original juxtaposition of antiquity and modernity. — Alexandra Kirkman, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2026 The still-unknown circumstances around Wells’ death have touched off rampant online speculation and prompted calls from Black leaders for transparency from local authorities. — ABC News, 21 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for touched off

Verb

Emergency response activated Savannah River Site officials said the incident triggered emergency response activities at the Department of Energy facility.

— Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 29 Oct. 2026
Scammers would return the cards to the original store and use computer programs to monitor when the altered cards are activated.

— DeJanay Booth-Singleton, CBS News, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of activated

Verb

The attacks, which saw 1,195 people killed and 251 taken into Gaza as hostages, triggered a major security crisis that led to three years of war on multiple fronts.

— Yarden Segev, NBC news, 27 Oct. 2026
More recently, inflation triggered by the Iran war has increased energy and food prices across the country in 2026.

— Amy L. Wong, Washington Post, 27 Oct. 2026

Definition of triggered

Verb

Authorities said in July that income and gains from overseas trusts owned by Chinese tax residents would be taxed at 20%, setting off a scramble for cash and alternative structures.

— Anniek Bao, CNBC, 23 Oct. 2026
As Prue and Curtis struggle to unravel the twisty lore of the obstacle-laden forest in their search for Mac, their outsider presence inadvertently sets off a long-festering showdown for control of the forest between its warring factions.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of set off

Verb

In March 2024, House Republicans released a previously undisclosed transcript of the Select Committee's interview with a Secret Service officer who drove the presidential SUV.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 29 Oct. 2026
But World Cup momentum drove results across linear TV and streamer ViX in Mexico, where TelevisaUnivision had rights to the matches.

— Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 29 Oct. 2026

Definition of drove

Browse Nearby Words

touched down

touched off

touched (on)

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“Touched off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/touched%20off. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of touched off

verb

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