From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishshow off phrasal verb1 SHOW OFFto try to make people admire your abilities, achievements, or possessions – used to show disapproval → show-off He couldn’t resist showing off on the tennis court.2 show something ↔ offSHOW OFF to show something to a lot of people because you are very proud of it a picture of the restaurant’s owners showing off their award3 show something ↔ offSUIT/LOOK GOOD TOGETHER if one thing shows off something else, it makes the other thing look especially attractive SYN complement The white dress showed off her dark skin beautifully. → show→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
show off• She raised her wrist, showing off a sparkling diamond bracelet.• Billy, please stop showing off and sit down quietly!• He doesn't usually drive as fast as this. He's just showing off because you're here.• At last, this was a chance to show off her talents before a real audience.• I think he was trying to show off in front of the girls.• He wanted to show his daughter off to everybody.• We used to wear as much make-up as we dared, in order to show off to our friends.show-offˈshow-off noun [countable] informal SHOW OFFsomeone who always tries to show how clever or skilled they are so that other people will admire them – often used to show disapproval She’s a bit of a show-off.Examples from the Corpus
show-off• You have to be a bit of a show-off to be an actor.• Peacocks and nightingales are aesthetic show-offs.• The lesson of Trafalgar Square 2000 was that 3000 fearless anarchists were kept in check by one scantily clad show-off.• Dave can be a real show-off at times.• Dominic's show-off fact: He was the youngest person ever to run for London Mayor.• It can encourage the show-off in us.• That was the way to deal with show-offs like Olivia Onions. 