hourly

1 of 2

adverb

hour·​ly ˈau̇(-ə)r-lē How to pronounce hourly (audio)
: at or during every hour

hourly

2 of 2

adjective

1
a
: occurring hour by hour
hourly bus service
b
: frequent, continual
in hourly expectation of the rain's stopping
2
: computed in terms of an hour
an hourly wage
3
: paid by the hour
hourly workers

Examples of hourly in a Sentence

Adverb she checks her phone for messages hourly
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Adverb
Bandana Bandana is a new job platform focused on helping hourly, frontline and working-class job seekers find better jobs close to home. Caroline Castrillon, Forbes.com, 29 June 2025 Creators can constantly update their experiences, even hourly, and our Infrastructure innovations will be able to handle traffic with millions of game instances across more than 24 global edge data centers. Jennifer Maas, Variety, 20 June 2025
Adjective
Three cities in Washington state are due for wage increases: Burien, Washington: Employers with 21 to 499 employees will raise their minimum wage at least $3.50 above the state's hourly minimum wage of $16.66. Kathryn Palmer, USA Today, 30 June 2025 Cawley-Ford remembers when the stipends were put in place, saying the bonuses helped to raise UConn Health’s hourly wage to a level more in line with other hospitals in the state. Livi Stanford, Hartford Courant, 28 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for hourly

Word History

First Known Use

Adverb

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

circa 1530, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of hourly was in the 15th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hourly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hourly. Accessed 9 Jul. 2025.

Kids Definition

hourly

adjective
hour·​ly
ˈau̇(ə)r-lē
1
: occurring every hour
hourly bus service
2
: figured in terms of one hour
hourly wages
hourly adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on hourly

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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