1
as in sporadic
lacking in steadiness or regularity of occurrence
the weekend forecast is for occasional showers
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in odd
not often occurring or repeated
an occasional mechanical problem with our car, but nothing serious
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of occasional
Ferries connect Tortola and Anegada once or twice a day, several days a week, making the journey in two and a half hours with an occasional stop in Virgin Gorda.
—
Carley Rojas Avila, Travel + Leisure, 9 Apr. 2026
There are still deliveries of hate mail from conservative neighbors who disapprove of their lifestyle, and occasional drive-bys punctuated with curses yelled from car windows, but they’ve largely been accepted by the community.
—Stephanie Breijo, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2026
An occasional spike from birthday cake or a holiday meal isn’t the problem.
—Allison Palmer, Miami Herald, 8 Apr. 2026
These may include occasional support or changing amounts.
—Fazila Shahid Lodhi, Idaho Statesman, 8 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for occasional
Carley Rojas Avila, Travel + Leisure, 9 Apr. 2026
There are still deliveries of hate mail from conservative neighbors who disapprove of their lifestyle, and occasional drive-bys punctuated with curses yelled from car windows, but they’ve largely been accepted by the community.
—Stephanie Breijo, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2026
An occasional spike from birthday cake or a holiday meal isn’t the problem.
—Allison Palmer, Miami Herald, 8 Apr. 2026
These may include occasional support or changing amounts.
—Fazila Shahid Lodhi, Idaho Statesman, 8 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for occasional
Recent Examples of Synonyms for occasional
Adjective
-
Since then there have been sporadic signs of life regarding the venue, mostly to do with liquor licensing and permit requests, such as last October when a company called Dome Center LLC filed an application for a conditional-use permit.—
Mark Olsen,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Apr. 2026
-
Over the last week, government responses had been sporadic, but seemed to signal that the return was a matter of when — not if.—
Mathew Miranda,
Sacbee.com,
6 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
To strike that balance, the characters had to be funny and a little odd but also warm and genuinely fond of one another, enough that the hero would think, This is worth preserving.—
Angelina Mazza,
Vulture,
7 Apr. 2026
-
That was something McGuire said that seemed odd.—
Amelia Mugavero,
CBS News,
7 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Instead, precipitation arriving as rain – along with intermittent midwinter melting events – increased the runoff.—
Imtiaz Rangwala,
Denver Post,
8 Apr. 2026
-
The matching restrictions do limit the ability of companies to claim to use carbon-free electricity 24/7 by using intermittent wind and solar power.—
Arik Levinson,
Mercury News,
7 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Ravensbergen is a rare southpaw as a right-catching goalie (coincidentally, as is Askarov).—
Scott Wheeler,
New York Times,
8 Apr. 2026
-
On the rare occasions a teammate passed him the ball, Knueppel would duck and let the ball skitter out of bounds.—
Scott Fowler,
Charlotte Observer,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Earthquakes' sudden, rapid shaking can cause fires, tsunamis, landslides or avalanches.—
CA Earthquake Bot,
Sacbee.com,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Brave Mars is encouraging your intuitive sign, while its sextile to sudden Uranus in your 3rd House of Communication favors outreach.—
Tarot.com,
New York Daily News,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Such clean behavior strongly points to an origin in isolated binary systems, where two stars are born together, evolve side by side, exchange mass, and eventually collapse into black holes that merge without interference from their surroundings.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
12 Apr. 2026
-
Keep a distance from tall, isolated trees or other elevated objects.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
12 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Wen says that such unusual shapes could be useful in making a lab-on-a-chip for cell biology or drug development.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
9 Apr. 2026
-
At 516 feet in width, the unusual structure is roughly 22,000 times smaller than the actual Moon, which with a diameter of 2,159 miles could roughly fit the contiguous United States across one of its halves from east to west.—
Victor Tangermann,
Futurism,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
About 2 in 10 are infrequent users, using AI tools at work a few times a month or a few times a year.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
13 Apr. 2026
-
One couple are infrequent visitors but are always welcome.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Chicago Tribune,
12 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Occasional.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/occasional. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
