as in former
having been such at some previous time
the once child star is now a lawyer in the entertainment industry
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in when
just at the moment that
you should have stopped wrestling once you knew someone was getting hurt, not five minutes later
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of once
Abby Hamblin, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Apr. 2025
And, as the FTC has just warned once again, any unpaid toll bill text is almost certainly a scam.
—Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 7 Apr. 2025
Demetrius Patterson, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
As the once leader of the industry, its woes rippled backward through the supply chain and forward into the airline industry which desperately needed new aircraft to meet the rising demand for post-pandemic travel.
—Jerrold Lundquist, Forbes, 28 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for once
Adverb
But once again, Wyatt was saved, this time by Ballerini.
—Abby Hamblin, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Apr. 2025
And, as the FTC has just warned once again, any unpaid toll bill text is almost certainly a scam.
—Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
For Silver, there can no peace until the new school, and the resurgence of Cobra Kai headed by his once friend and now nemesis Kreese, gets some payback.
—Demetrius Patterson, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
As the once leader of the industry, its woes rippled backward through the supply chain and forward into the airline industry which desperately needed new aircraft to meet the rising demand for post-pandemic travel.
—Jerrold Lundquist, Forbes, 28 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for once
Recent Examples of Synonyms for once
Adverb
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Several videos of people keying Teslas have gone viral on social media platforms Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).—
Charles Singh,
USA Today,
24 Apr. 2025
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The new agreement will cover about 100 dishwashers, cooks, servers, bartenders and cleaners, as well as about 100 workers formerly employed by 1Fifty1 who cleaned public areas such as bathrooms, broke down and set up event spaces and performed groundskeeper services.—
Suhauna Hussain,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Under former President Joe Biden, monthly student loan bills resumed in the fall of 2023 after a years-long break.—
Zachary Schermele,
USA Today,
22 Apr. 2025
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For years, the scientific output (patents, publications, commercial innovations) from former Soviet scientists decreased dramatically with a long-lasting negative impact on today’s Russian economy.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
21 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Morales' older brother, Ricardo, confirmed his death in a post on X, formerly Twitter.—
Nicholas Creel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Apr. 2025
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In contrast, older generations started saving much later, with boomers beginning at an average age of 37 and with plans to retire at 72.—
Aimee Picchi,
CBS News,
18 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The trip to Brentford is little more than a lower mid-table meeting, but United’s other three engagements could have more riding on them.—
Mark Critchley,
New York Times,
19 Apr. 2025
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The president and his administration accuse Harvard, among other universities, of allowing antisemitism to flourish on campus, endangering Jewish students.—
Trevor Hughes,
USA Today,
19 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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That Horan yearns for the Fed to centrally plan an absurd creation of statist economists (GDP), prices, income, and employment more broadly is yet another disturbing lurch by an erstwhile free-market crowd that brevity disallows discussion of for now.—
John Tamny,
Forbes.com,
20 Apr. 2025
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The team is also working on restoring the habitat across the island, which was stripped of all its vegetation during its time as an erstwhile guano mining spot.—
Tim Chester,
AFAR Media,
17 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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In a break from past practice, the government appears to be revoking student visas directly, without warning or due process, attorneys say.—
Hannah Parry,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Apr. 2025
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From a mental health perspective, this might look like working with a therapist to address that past trauma, identifying what triggers you and finding healthy ways to cope.—
Rahkim Sabree, Contributor,
CNBC,
17 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Kennedy’s close friend and sometime co-counsel Michael Tigar wrote in his own biography that Timothy later pointed a finger at Kennedy, calling him the mastermind, in order to seek revenge after their future falling-out.—
Susannah Cahalan,
Rolling Stone,
17 Apr. 2025
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They were taken away and brought back a week later with broken arms and legs, sometime heads.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
13 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Adobe has used Max London to announce its latest Firefly app which combines the company’s commercially safe Firefly models as well as offering its customers a choice of also using models from third parties like Google and OpenAI.—
Mark Sparrow,
Forbes.com,
24 Apr. 2025
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By late April, his average approval rating had fallen under 45 percent.—
The Hill Staff,
The Hill,
24 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Once.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/once. Accessed 1 May. 2025.
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