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

Synonyms of occasional

• sporadic
• intermittent
• sudden

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

Expect winds to be northwest 10 to 20 mph with frequent gusts of 25 to 35 mph and occasional gusts up to 40 mph and relative humidity 20 to 25 percent. —Nc Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 16 Nov. 2025

Not some perfect and unassailable view of the world but the occasional flicker of double vision, the brief, destabilizing reminder of other people’s minds, humming along in their baffling, alien ways. —Deborah Treisman, New Yorker, 16 Nov. 2025

There’s some great lighting, too, with bloom effects and glints of sunbeams peering through Samus’ visor, as well as the return of the occasional reflection of her face in the helmet’s glass (a detail that blew fans’ collective minds back in 2002). —Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 14 Nov. 2025

To me, the occasional early wake-up call or late-night call or messy inbox is worth it for the trade-off to make GQ as global as possible. —Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 14 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English occasyonal "occurring at intervals," borrowed from Medieval Latin occāsiōnālis "opportune, incidental," from occāsiōn-, occāsiō occasion entry 1 + Latin -ālis -al entry 1

First Known Use

1611, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for occasional

• equational

Kids 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