as in former
having been such at some previous time
the once child star is now a lawyer in the entertainment industry
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in when
just at the moment that
you should have stopped wrestling once you knew someone was getting hurt, not five minutes later
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of once
Shawn Cole, Forbes.com, 30 Apr. 2025
But catastrophes have a way of focusing attention on solutions that might once have been dismissed as fanciful or impossible.
—Margaret MacMillan, The Atlantic, 30 Apr. 2025
Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 14 Jan. 2025
For Silver, there can no peace until the new school, and the resurgence of Cobra Kai headed by his once friend and now nemesis Kreese, gets some payback.
—Demetrius Patterson, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for once
Adverb
Companies once hired executives based on deep category experience and emotional investment in the brand.
—Shawn Cole, Forbes.com, 30 Apr. 2025
But catastrophes have a way of focusing attention on solutions that might once have been dismissed as fanciful or impossible.
—Margaret MacMillan, The Atlantic, 30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
But Smith also had some choice words for the once and future president.
—Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 14 Jan. 2025
For Silver, there can no peace until the new school, and the resurgence of Cobra Kai headed by his once friend and now nemesis Kreese, gets some payback.
—Demetrius Patterson, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for once
Recent Examples of Synonyms for once
Adverb
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Ye, the rapper and fashion mogul formerly known as Kanye West, ignited a firestorm of criticism over the weekend after posting a series of controversial messages on X (formerly Twitter).—
Preezy Brown,
VIBE.com,
5 May 2025
-
The latest claim was leveled by Adam Schleifer, formerly an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, in a filing last week with the Merit Systems Protection Board, which handles wrongful termination appeals from federal workers.—
Brittny Mejia,
Los Angeles Times,
3 May 2025
Adjective
-
Ali's former wife Khalilah Ali, 75, who was in the live television audience, says in the episode.—
Jeremy Helligar,
People.com,
3 May 2025
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Some former members of the fraternity were sentenced to several days in jail for providing alcohol at an initiation event to a minor, and Washington State University removed official recognition of the fraternity until May 2026.—
Alisha Ebrahimji,
CNN Money,
3 May 2025
Adjective
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An older player was driving the younger ones and pretended to get lost in an isolated section of the county, where a group of accomplices emerged in masks and black clothing, imitating an abduction with at least one gun and one knife, according to the district attorney.—
Emily Mae Czachor,
CBS News,
1 May 2025
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The movie set, like all others, should have only had blanks on hand, but somehow a number of live rounds made their way to the location and one such bullet ended up in the gun that went off as Hutchins and Baldwin lined up a shot in an old church.—
Marco della Cava,
USA Today,
1 May 2025
Adjective
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Let your words be intentional and your thoughts be clear—especially when involving other people into your mental maze.—
Meghan Rose,
Glamour,
1 May 2025
-
Sign up for the Goings On newsletter to receive their selections, and other cultural recommendations, in your inbox.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
That Horan yearns for the Fed to centrally plan an absurd creation of statist economists (GDP), prices, income, and employment more broadly is yet another disturbing lurch by an erstwhile free-market crowd that brevity disallows discussion of for now.—
John Tamny,
Forbes.com,
20 Apr. 2025
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The team is also working on restoring the habitat across the island, which was stripped of all its vegetation during its time as an erstwhile guano mining spot.—
Tim Chester,
AFAR Media,
17 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Performing tracks from past albums as well as a bulk of the songs from her Grammy-winning, Billboard 200-topping album Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé kicked off about three months of touring with her show at SoFi.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
29 Apr. 2025
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Chinese exporters will not sit still while Washington negotiates, especially given the glacial pace of past talks.—
Zongyuan Zoe Liu,
Foreign Affairs,
29 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Berninger made the album with co-producer and sometime co-writer Sean O’Brien.—
Walden Green,
Pitchfork,
11 Mar. 2025
-
Kennedy’s close friend and sometime co-counsel Michael Tigar wrote in his own biography that Timothy later pointed a finger at Kennedy, calling him the mastermind, in order to seek revenge after their future falling-out.—
Susannah Cahalan,
Rolling Stone,
17 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Yet, there are widespread concerns that if they are enacted, Trump’s latest moves have the potential to upend and potentially decimate a global film business that relies on a network of international incentives and foreign locations to make movies.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
5 May 2025
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Morrissey kicked off his latest North American run late last month.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
5 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Once.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/once. Accessed 10 May. 2025.
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