How to Use once upon a time in a Sentence

once upon a time

phrase

• These were two men who once upon a time were firmly aligned in their outlook.
  — Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 18 July 2024
• Even one of the biggest pop stars in the world was once upon a time just a theater kid.
  — Brian Welk, IndieWire, 28 Jan. 2025
• At one end was a big frame house which once upon a time rose all alone in the middle of a truck farm.
  — Literary Hub, 29 Sep. 2025
• Will went on to say that, once upon a time, boxing was very popular.
  — Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 4 Jan. 2023
• What’s funny is that once upon a time, hose were a symbol of freedom.
  — Laia Garcia-Furtado, Vogue, 26 Oct. 2023
• The platform gave me everything once upon a time, so many years ago.
  — Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 14 Oct. 2024
• This was the world that 3D printing was supposed to bring forth once upon a time.
  — Adriana Lee, WWD, 13 Sep. 2024
• But once upon a time, states really did leave the Union, and fielded armies against it.
  — arkansasonline.com, 12 Feb. 2025
• But once upon a time, there were a hundred ways to get from A to B, or a thousand.
  — Rachel Kushner, Harper's Magazine, 2 Dec. 2024
• And while Schenn was a superb trade fit with the Leafs once upon a time, that was nearly three years ago.
  — Jonas Siegel, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2026
• MySpace was the world-beating social network once upon a time.
  — PCMAG, 9 Feb. 2023
• There’s also a guest house on-site, which once upon a time was the original home in 1910.
  — Angel Saunders, Peoplemag, 1 Feb. 2024
• His father, tearing the team a set of new ones in the locker-room, once upon a time made one player stand in the corner like a child.
  — Bart Bull, SPIN, 10 Feb. 2023
• George Washington had been named once upon a time by the British Empire.
  — NBC News, 25 Dec. 2022
• The beloved toy store chain, which closed its last remaining stores in 2021, was once upon a time a mall staple.
  — Brittany Natale, Woman's Day, 20 June 2023
• Because once upon a time, Gracie was a married 36-year-old mother who worked at a pet store.
  — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 29 Nov. 2023
• The streaming company has long been aware that its subscribers share passwords and once upon a time encouraged it.
  — Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY, 10 Aug. 2023
• As discussed, once upon a time, business public relations were much, much simpler.
  — Michael Ashley, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
• And speaking of hardware, Google was supposed to be building a first-party tracking tag once upon a time.
  — Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, 5 Apr. 2024
• Someone had a sign in the crowd that said Hensley had given her a concussion in a youth soccer game once upon a time.
  — Corey Masisak, Denver Post, 16 Mar. 2026
• But, once upon a time, America almost had the most magical ski area on Earth.
  — Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 24 Feb. 2025
• Riseborough plays Leslie, who, once upon a time, was the toast of the town after winning a lottery jackpot.
  — Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 2 Feb. 2023
• The presence of liquid water once upon a time points to a balmy environment that could have been habitable.
  — Shi En Kim, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Feb. 2024
• But, once upon a time, Manfred made a similar promise to Oakland.
  — John Romano, Orlando Sentinel, 15 Mar. 2025
• The eradication of child labor was something Americans could be proud of, once upon a time.
  — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 2023
• Turns out, once upon a time, the girls burned down a wing of their mansion with their abusive father trapped inside and disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again.
  — Sezin Devi Koehler, EW.com, 1 May 2025
• But what Mainers will absolutely agree on is that this area that once upon a time truly shut down for the winter months simply doesn't any more.
  — Todd Plummer, Condé Nast Traveler, 31 Jan. 2024
• Who will believe that Earth’s population once upon a time numbered eight billion people?
  — Literary Hub, 22 Oct. 2025
• Foreign content was a niche business once upon a time, but not since Squid Game and Berlin Babylon.
  — Vulture, 2 May 2023
• Well, that’d be Phil Mickelson, who once upon a time would’ve been a beguiling pick for Bethpage.
  — Brendan Quinn, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025