get off lightly

verb

To end up with a mild punishment, or without serious harm.

“My cousin got off lightly with a restraining order after he broke the boy’s leg.”

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Meanings

verbget off lightly (third-person singular simple present gets off lightly, present participle getting off lightly, simple past got off lightly, past participle (UK) got off lightly or (US) gotten off lightly)

present singular third person gets off lightly · participle present getting off lightly · past got off lightly · UK participle past got off lightly · US participle past gotten off lightly

  1. idiomaticTo end up with a mild punishment, or without serious harm.

    My cousin got off lightly with a restraining order after he broke the boy’s leg.

    1 more example

    @Socrates Got off lightly, all things considered. They just want me to drink this hemlock stuff. BRB. 8.11am, March 22, 399 BC

    2012, Kelvin MacKenzie, Chas Newkey-Burden, The Twitter History of the World, London: John Blake, →ISBN, page 12

Translations

French s'en tirer à bon compte
  • s'en tirer à bon compteend up with a mild punishment
Norwegian slippe billig unna
  • slippe billig unnaend up with a mild punishment
Russian легко отделаться
  • легко отделаться (leχkó otdélat’sja)end up with a mild punishment
Cite this entry
APA

get off lightly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20off%20lightly

MLA

“get off lightly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20off%20lightly. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “get off lightly,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20off%20lightly.

Source: get off lightly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.