as in off and on
not constantly or steadily over a period of time
It's been raining on and off all afternoon.
Related Words
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Dissimilar Words
as in recurrent
occurring or appearing at intervals
an on-and-off friendship over the years
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of on and off
Adam Harrington, CBS News, 6 Apr. 2026
Carter and Duff were on-and-off as young teens from 2000 until 2003.
—Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Apr. 2026
Judge Joel Bennathan sentenced Matvei Rumiantsev, a 23-year-old Russian national, to two years in prison after being found guilty of assault for abusing his on-and-off girlfriend.
—Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 27 Mar. 2026
Trump said at the start of a roughly five-minute, on-and-off diatribe on the Sharpie.
—ABC News, 26 Mar. 2026
After years of an on-and-off feud — which viewers had grown tired of — Giudice, Gorga and Joe Gorga, Giudice’s brother (who’s also in the main cast), made up last year.
—Payton Turkeltaub, Variety, 24 Mar. 2026
Perhaps the most notorious example is Carrie and Big’s on-and-off again fling in Sex and the City, which stretched across six seasons and two movies, causing no shortage of headaches for the girls.
—Jenna Ryu, SELF, 19 Mar. 2026
The two officially ended their relationship in December 2024, after the birth of their son but have kept up on-and-off romantic contact with each other since.
—Lauryn Overhultz, FOXNews.com, 18 Mar. 2026
Hamilton, a seven-time Formula One World Drivers' Championship titleholder and driver for Ferrari, was reportedly in an on-and-off-again relationship with Pussycat Dolls star Nicole Scherzinger from 2007 to 2015.
—Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 17 Mar. 2026
Adjective
The woman accused of killing her on-and-off-again boyfriend and his parents in Chicago's south suburbs appeared in court Monday.
—Adam Harrington, CBS News, 6 Apr. 2026
Carter and Duff were on-and-off as young teens from 2000 until 2003.
—Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Apr. 2026
Judge Joel Bennathan sentenced Matvei Rumiantsev, a 23-year-old Russian national, to two years in prison after being found guilty of assault for abusing his on-and-off girlfriend.
—Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 27 Mar. 2026
Trump said at the start of a roughly five-minute, on-and-off diatribe on the Sharpie.
—ABC News, 26 Mar. 2026
After years of an on-and-off feud — which viewers had grown tired of — Giudice, Gorga and Joe Gorga, Giudice’s brother (who’s also in the main cast), made up last year.
—Payton Turkeltaub, Variety, 24 Mar. 2026
Perhaps the most notorious example is Carrie and Big’s on-and-off again fling in Sex and the City, which stretched across six seasons and two movies, causing no shortage of headaches for the girls.
—Jenna Ryu, SELF, 19 Mar. 2026
The two officially ended their relationship in December 2024, after the birth of their son but have kept up on-and-off romantic contact with each other since.
—Lauryn Overhultz, FOXNews.com, 18 Mar. 2026
Hamilton, a seven-time Formula One World Drivers' Championship titleholder and driver for Ferrari, was reportedly in an on-and-off-again relationship with Pussycat Dolls star Nicole Scherzinger from 2007 to 2015.
—Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 17 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for on and off
Adverb
-
Just then the lights in the apartment flicked off and on, then off again, leaving them in the dark, so Louise hung up.—
Catherine Lacey,
New Yorker,
5 Apr. 2026
-
Gadiano worked in the fields off and on from childhood into middle age.—
Kerry Klein,
NPR,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The researchers watched each adult closely for about three years and examined how many had a recurrent heart attack, were hospitalized for heart failure or died from any cause.—
Jacqueline Howard,
CNN Money,
30 Mar. 2026
-
For clinicians evaluating recurrent or chronic pelvic, abdominal, urinary, or musculoskeletal pain in reproductive-age patients, menstrual timing should be considered a meaningful diagnostic variable.—
Sarah Berg,
STAT,
26 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
No group has claimed responsibility but residents told The Associated Press that many gunmen on bikes shot sporadically into the community.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Some airports publish wait times sporadically, and some don’t at all.—
Michele Luhn,
CNBC,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The Bell Street Bridge encampment was prioritized for closure as part of Downtown Rising – the first phase of Atlanta Rising, a multi-year campaign launched in 2025 to end unsheltered homelessness citywide and make homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring.—
Emily McLeod,
CBS News,
7 Mar. 2026
-
This was and is a non-recurring, cyclical business totally dependent on transaction volumes, which fluctuate with economic cycles and interest rates.—
Josh Brown,Sean Russo,
CNBC,
15 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
While seated in the back of the cruiser, Woods is seen hiccupping and intermittently closing his eyes, at one point leaning back and keeping them shut for several seconds before facing forward again.—
Alaa Elassar,
CNN Money,
3 Apr. 2026
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The Houthis effectively closed off container shipping in the Suez Canal for nearly two years by intermittently attacking ships in the Red Sea and its chokepoint, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, with missiles and drones.—
Glenn Taylor,
Sourcing Journal,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Bisexuality was undergoing one of its periodic upticks.—
Jeffrey Eugenides,
New Yorker,
4 Apr. 2026
-
According to Industrie Africa, those hurdles included varying compliance capacity and origin-rule complexities, while the act’s periodic renewals created an atmosphere of uncertainty that complicated long-term pricing and fulfilment strategies for exporters.—
Ezreen Benissan,
Vogue,
2 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Schools check kids’ vision, but follow-up is spotty State law requires schools to periodically check kids’ vision starting in kindergarten.—
Kristen Hwang,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Apr. 2026
-
Her name was entered into national databases for missing children and Lahti said investigators would revisit her case periodically as the years passed and the trail grew cold.—
Corky Siemaszko,
NBC news,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Understood as intermittent organisms rather than monumental events, biennials can expand and contract.—
Manuela Moscoso,
Artforum,
2 Apr. 2026
-
His mission — to halt his body’s natural response to time and gravity — includes numerous hours in the gym, intermittent fasting, red light therapy and swallowing over 100 supplements each day.—
Leah Dolan,
CNN Money,
2 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“On and off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/on%20and%20off. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.
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