Definition of OFTEN

Examples of often in a Sentence

They go out to dinner fairly often. How often do you call your mother? The condition often returns even after treatment with antibiotics. I often take a walk during my lunch break. He travels more often than I do. The disease is diagnosed most often in children. They seem to be getting into arguments more and more often. It's not often that I get to enjoy a day off. Water the plants often enough to keep the soil moist.

Recent Examples on the Web

In San Francisco, outreach teams often have nothing to offer homeless people because all shelters and treatment slots are full. — Heather Knight, SFChronicle.com, "Welcome home: Trips abroad put San Francisco’s chaotic streets in perspective," 13 July 2019 But people often have no idea that their faces ended up in them. — Cade Metz, BostonGlobe.com, "Companies gather massive databases of people’s images for facial recognition tools," 13 July 2019 In a league where players have often had power, stars wield it with greater authority in today’s NBA. — Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY, "Opinion: In today's NBA, every summer can be a blockbuster, whether players are free agents or not," 12 July 2019 Raised by a single mother who escaped an abusive relationship with his father, and with gang members looking to recruit him, Moore, who often didn’t have enough to eat, barely allowed himself to imagine a life that transcended his circumstances. — Margaret Wappler, latimes.com, "Crazy about books? These 5 L.A. book events offer inspiring stories from Los Angeles and beyond," 12 July 2019 Troupe members often have multiple responsibilities, such as Adams, who is artistic director, actor, reservation-taker and usher, among other roles. — Melanie Feuk, Houston Chronicle, "Old West Melodrama to reach 300th performance with upcoming play in Old Town Spring," 12 July 2019 In a paper published just this week in the journal World Archaeology, Hakenbeck describes how commenters on the white supremacist forum Stormfront often use genetic studies in their arguments about racial superiority. — Megan Gannon, Smithsonian, "When Ancient DNA Gets Politicized," 12 July 2019 Williams often uses science fiction as a teaching tool to push students to think about the future of a technology or policy. — Rose Eveleth, WIRED, "Can Sci-Fi Writers Prepare Us for an Uncertain Future?," 12 July 2019 Changes to Medicare often have an impact on employer insurance, but the main dividend for working families could come from legislation to promote pharmaceutical competition. — Washington Post, "Setbacks for Trump’s drive to lower prescription drug costs," 11 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'often.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.