occasional
adjective
oc·ca·sion·al
ə-ˈkā-zh(ə-)nəl 
1
a
: of or relating to a particular occasion
a budget able to meet occasional demands as well as regular ones
b
: created for a particular occasion
occasional verse
occasional music
2
: acting as the occasion or contributing cause of something
occasional causes for creating apparent effects
3
: encountered, occurring, appearing, or taken at irregular or infrequent intervals
occasional visitors
an occasional vacation
found occasional errors
occasional episodes of chest pain
4
: acting in a specified capacity from time to time
an occasional lecturer
an occasional essayist
5
: designed or constructed to be used as the occasion demands
occasional furniture
Examples of occasional in a Sentence
She receives occasional phone calls from her mother.
There will be occasional showers during the morning.
Most mornings, we'll see deer or the occasional bear walking past our house.
He tells an occasional joke to keep his students interested.
I need to take occasional breaks from work.
Sure, I drink an occasional glass of wine from time to time.
She's an occasional lecturer at the university.
Recent Examples on the Web
Consistency turns occasional readers into followers who can predict your stance on related issues.
—
Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 29 Apr. 2025
Those posts often highlight the overconfident way the AI Overview frames its idiomatic explanations and occasional problems with the model confabulating sources that don't exist.
—ArsTechnica, 29 Apr. 2025
The 31-year-old will provide reliability as a blocker, while serving as an occasional release valve over the middle.
—James Boyd, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025
One dead giveaway of newborn stars is occasional pockets of light punctuating the inky tendrils of the molecular cloud.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 28 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for occasional
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 29 Apr. 2025
Those posts often highlight the overconfident way the AI Overview frames its idiomatic explanations and occasional problems with the model confabulating sources that don't exist.
—ArsTechnica, 29 Apr. 2025
The 31-year-old will provide reliability as a blocker, while serving as an occasional release valve over the middle.
—James Boyd, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025
One dead giveaway of newborn stars is occasional pockets of light punctuating the inky tendrils of the molecular cloud.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 28 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for occasional
Cite this Entry
“Occasional.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/occasional. Accessed 3 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
occasional
adjective
oc·ca·sion·al
ə-ˈkāzh-nəl
-ən-ᵊl
1
: of, relating to, or created for a particular occasion
occasional verse
2
: happening, appearing, or met with now and then
an occasional visitor
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share