as in off and on
not constantly or steadily over a period of time
It's been raining on and off all afternoon.
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in recurrent
occurring or appearing at intervals
an on-and-off friendship over the years
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for on and off
Adverb
-
It was meant to be a two-week painting trip, but Hood stayed, off and on, for the next 20 years.—
Grace Edquist,
Vogue,
13 Feb. 2025 -
The hat worn by Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch of the West will also be auctioned off and on display.—
Ashley J. DiMella Fox News,
Fox News,
21 Nov. 2024
Adjective
-
Treatment for UTIs in older adults involves the same antibiotics used in younger adults, but adjustments may be made for people with recurrent UTIs or who regularly use catheters.—
Matthew Wosnitzer,
Verywell Health,
28 Feb. 2025
-
Unsurprisingly, the treatment for recurrent BV or recurrent yeast tends to involve extending the usual care—that is, doing a lengthier course of antibiotics for BV or antifungals for yeast as determined by your doctor, for up to six months.—
Erica Sloan,
SELF,
27 Feb. 2025
Adverb
-
Reduced to occasionally doing commercials for used cars, and spending most of his days drinking, despairing, and sporadically playing Russian roulette in a retirement home for actors, the curmudgeonly Montana has a death wish that only sheer luck has kept him from fulfilling.—
Joe Leydon,
Variety,
5 Mar. 2025
-
So, what does a real-deal capital-A artist wear to an event like the Oscars that is only sporadically about art (and more frequently about commerce)?—
Dave Schilling,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
The strange makeup of recurring dreams Research has found that most recurring dreams have a negative tone with themes often related to helplessness, failure, or being chased.—
Stacey Colino,
TIME,
4 Mar. 2025
-
Anxiety about pocketbook issues, however, formed a recurring and persistent theme.—
David Lauter,
Los Angeles Times,
21 Sep. 2024
Adjective
-
In the Federal Reserve’s periodic Beige Book look at economic conditions, there were more than 50 mentions of either tariffs or trade policy concerns.—
Yun Li,
CNBC,
6 Mar. 2025
-
Yesterday’s defenses—periodic scans, manual oversight and static controls—crumble against adversaries wielding AI to exploit vulnerabilities at machine speed.—
Tim Eades,
Forbes,
5 Mar. 2025
Adverb
-
However, the virus is reintroduced through international travel periodically, with 16 outbreaks reported nationwide in 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.—
Harriet Blair Rowan,
The Mercury News,
3 Mar. 2025
-
However, all borrowers in IDR must periodically recertify their income to have their monthly payment recalculated.—
Adam S. Minsky,
Forbes,
3 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
And while some similarly reparative serums require some downtime or intermittent usage, this can be applied mindlessly.—
Kiana Murden,
Vogue,
7 Mar. 2025
-
After the know-nothing county board opts to raze the baseball diamond to make way for a school, the teams meet for one final game at their beloved Soldier’s Field, with girlfriends, kids, and local hooligans as intermittent spectators.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
7 Mar. 2025
Adverb
-
His ringmaster’s charisma, chameleonic voices, and occasionally viral socio-anarchist zingers work in concert with his encyclopedic knowledge of Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition to qualify him as arguably the greatest Dungeon Master alive.—
Eric Francisco,
Rolling Stone,
1 Mar. 2025
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Rambin ended up compiling 161 episodes as Lily Montgomery (and occasionally as her own older half-sister, Ava Benton), and accepted roles on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Grey's Anatomy while still appearing on the soap.—
EW Staff Published,
EW.com,
1 Mar. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“On and off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/on%20and%20off. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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