sometime

adverb some·time \ ˈsəm-ˌtīm \

Updated on: 12 Apr 2018

Definition of sometime

1 archaic : in the past : formerly

2 archaic : once in a while : occasionally

3 : at some time in the future

I'll do it sometime

4 : at some not specified or definitely known point of time

sometime last night

See sometime defined for English-language learners

See sometime defined for kids

Examples of sometime in a Sentence

We should get together sometime.
It's likely to happen sometime soon.
She will return from her trip sometime in December.
A burglar broke in sometime during the night.
The book was written sometime around the turn of the century.

Recent Examples of sometime from the Web

BEIJING — China’s defunct and reportedly out-of-control Tiangong 1 space station is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere sometime this weekend.

— Washington Post, "China’s defunct space lab hurtling toward Earth for re-entry," 29 Mar. 2018
Tiangong-1, which launched on Sept. 30, 2011, is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere sometime between Saturday morning and Monday morning, according to the European Space Agency.

— d. kwas, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Southern Wisconsin is in the re-entry path of a Chinese space station — but it's a big path," 28 Mar. 2018
The new Cards coach was set to be introduced to the media and a collection of Louisville boosters sometime after the university's meetings.

— jeff greer, The Courier-Journal, "Louisville announces Chris Mack as its new men's basketball coach after approving contract," 28 Mar. 2018
China’s Tiangong-1 space station is predicted to enter Earth’s atmosphere sometime during Easter weekend, but the exact location of its re-entry remains a mystery.

— elizabeth howell, Scientific American, "Chinese Space Station Could Crash to Earth on Easter Weekend," 27 Mar. 2018
Kenilworth Trespassing Kenilworth police said three automobiles, two on the 500 block of Brier Street and one on the 700 block of Kent Road, were entered sometime between midnight and 8 a.m. March 14.

— kathy routliffe, chicagotribune.com, "Wilmette police: man slept with his pants down on Linden train," 16 Mar. 2018
Initial reports claimed the CIA sent Haspel to Thailand to oversee a secret prison codenamed Cat’s Eye sometime after the September 11 attacks.

— christianna silva, Teen Vogue, "What to Know About Gina Haspel, Trump's Pick for CIA Director," 15 Mar. 2018
In its statement Thursday, Nike said Parker will remain the company's chief executive until sometime after 2020.

— mike rogoway, OregonLive.com, "Nike shakeup follows 'conduct inconsistent with Nike's core values'," 15 Mar. 2018
He is believed to have first entered the country sometime around July 1, 2004, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman told IndyStar.

— holly v. hays, Indianapolis Star, "Orrego-Savala's attorney files motion to toss out on-scene confession," 20 Feb. 2018

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

First Known Use of sometime

14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

sometime Synonyms

Synonyms

eventually, finally, someday, sooner or later, ultimately, yet;

Near Antonyms

ne'er, never, nevermore;

forthwith, immediately, promptly, pronto, right away, right now, right off, straightaway, straightway;

Phrases

at last (or at long last), at length, in the end, in the fullness of time, in time;

sometime

adjective

Definition of sometime

1 : having been formerly : former, late

2 : being so occasionally or in only some respects

a sometime father

See sometime defined for English-language learners

Examples of sometime in a Sentence

a sometime athlete who's gotten awfully fat

Recent Examples of sometime from the Web

The principal of Forest Park Elementary School was told of the posting sometime Wednesday, then told a school resource officer and contacted Portland Public Schools security, said Dave Northfield, a school district spokesman.

— everton bailey jr., OregonLive.com, "Portland school 'slaughterhouse' label on Google leads to extra police presence," 21 Mar. 2018
The intense relationship between dear friends and sometime lovers Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West was not a scandal in their own households — the writers’ similarly free-thinking husbands were reportedly fine with it.

— jeremy d. goodwin, BostonGlobe.com, "Subverting gender in Lyric Stage’s sly ‘Orlando’," 27 Feb. 2018
The expert, Isabella Quattrocchi, said that seven drawings and eight oil paintings by Modigliani, as well as six oil paintings attributed to his friend and sometime collaborator, Moise Kisling, were not authentic.

— elisabetta povoledo, New York Times, "The Authenticity of Modigliani Paintings Questioned Once Again," 12 Jan. 2018
Arias was sentenced to life in prison for the 2008 murder of her sometime lover Travis Alexander.

— michael kiefer, azcentral, "Attorneys file new sexual harassment allegations against Jodi Arias prosecutor," 8 Mar. 2018
When Earn goes out with Van (Zazie Beetz), his friend, his sometime lover and the mother of his child, the movie theater refuses to accept a $100 bill from him but takes one from the middle-aged white man behind him in line.

— james poniewozik, New York Times, "Review: ‘Atlanta’ and the Surreal Larceny of Life," 28 Feb. 2018
The American taste for individualism will continue to frustrate the hopes of liberals and their sometime leftist allies.

— michael kazin, The New Republic, "Realistic Ambitions," 27 Feb. 2018
Arias killed Alexander, her sometime boyfriend, during a tryst June 4, 2008, at his Mesa, Ariz. house.

— michael kiefer, USA TODAY, "Convicted killer Jodi Arias sues her former lawyer over tell-all book," 26 Oct. 2017
Not even Chance the Rapper, who's been extraordinarily outspoken about social and political issues in Chicago, has held forth as lucidly as his old friend and sometime collaborator.

— jake malooley, Chicago Reader, "Television / Arts Daily Show’s final night in Chicago: Hasan Minhaj on 90s Bulls and North Korea; Vic Mensa on the city’s ‘toxic situation’," 20 Oct. 2017

First Known Use of sometime

14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

sometime Synonyms

Synonyms

erstwhile, former, late, old, once, onetime, other, past, quondam, whilom;

Near Antonyms

contemporary, current, extant, ongoing, present, present-day;

coming, future, prospective, unborn;

SOMETIME Defined for English Language Learners

sometime

adverb

Definition of sometime for English Language Learners

: at an unspecified time in the future
: at an unspecified or unknown time in the past

sometime

adjective

Definition of sometime for English Language Learners

—used to say what someone or something was in the past
—used to say what someone sometimes does or is

SOMETIME Defined for Kids

sometime

adverb some·time \ ˈsəm-ˌtīm \

Definition of sometime for Students

1 : at a future time

I'll repay you sometime.

2 : at a time not known or not specified

It disappeared sometime yesterday.

Learn More about sometime

See words that rhyme with sometime Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for sometime Spanish Central: Translation of sometime Nglish: Translation of sometime for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of sometime for Arabic speakers

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sometime

Definition of sometime

Examples of sometime in a Sentence

Recent Examples of sometime from the Web

First Known Use of sometime

sometime Synonyms

Synonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

Phrases

sometime

Definition of sometime

Examples of sometime in a Sentence

Recent Examples of sometime from the Web

First Known Use of sometime

sometime Synonyms

Synonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

SOMETIME Defined for English Language Learners

sometime

Definition of sometime for English Language Learners

sometime

Definition of sometime for English Language Learners

SOMETIME Defined for Kids

sometime

Definition of sometime for Students

Learn More about sometime

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