occasional

adjective

ə-ˈkā-zh(ə-)nəl How to pronounce occasional (audio)
Definition of occasionalnext
1
as in sporadic
lacking in steadiness or regularity of occurrence the weekend forecast is for occasional showers

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 Every organization in the league, every organization throughout professional sports, all the way down to youth rec leagues, have to deal with occasional bad behavior from spectators. — ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026 Analysts point out that no one is immune to the occasional flop. — Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 30 Sep. 2026 Can creators turn occasional viewers into returning community members? — Dor Isseroff, Forbes.com, 29 Sep. 2026 Washington, for example, thinks that occasional attacks will ensure that Tehran can never fully regenerate its military or develop nuclear weapons. — Ali Vaez, Foreign Affairs, 29 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for occasional
Recent Examples of Synonyms for occasional
  1. sporadic
  2. odd
  3. intermittent
  4. rare
  5. sudden
  6. isolated
  7. unusual
  8. infrequent
Adjective
  • Foreigners have also experienced sporadic outbursts of xenophobic violence.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Others look further back to early and sporadic insurgent activity in 1964, before the UDI, or to 1965, the year of the UDI (November 11) itself.
    — Chinatsu Tsuji, Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of sporadic
Adjective
  • How odd that your in-laws can call your bed old and ugly, but balk at insulting their neighbor’s castoffs by not using them.
    — Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 3 Oct. 2026
  • This led mathematicians to suspect that the odd values were also likely irrational.
    — Lyndie Chiou, Scientific American, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of odd
Adjective
  • Those talks collapsed and the two sides have continued to trade intermittent attacks.
    — Dan Lamothe, Washington Post, 1 Oct. 2026
  • While Linton has not been diagnosed with an underlying seizure disorder, such as epilepsy, defense attorney Jovan Blacknell said Linton suffered intermittent seizures during her life, including at the time of the wreck.
    — James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of intermittent
Adjective
  • Children—a rare sight at Trancoso’s small, intimate pousadas but welcome here—are kept busy by a discreet army of private nannies and hotel monitors.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Because Justice Samuel Alito recused himself from the case, an eight-person bench will decide the case for the Supreme Court, leaving open the possibility of a rare 4-4 deadlock.
    — Jack Birle, The Washington Examiner, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of rare
Adjective
  • In many such cases, Pennington says, parents will want to give each child an equal inheritance to be fair, but also worry about how the struggling child will fare upon receiving a sudden inheritance.
    — Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2026
  • The account provided directly to Fox News offered a more harrowing description of the sudden descent, with the passenger saying people screamed as overhead compartments opened and power aboard the aircraft went out.
    — Bradford Betz, FOXNews.com, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of sudden
Adjective
  • Moisture continued to stream into the area early Wednesday, fueling showers and isolated thunderstorms that are expected to continue through the morning.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Instead of producing isolated pieces of content, communications teams should ask how each piece strengthens a larger body of knowledge.
    — Jessica Wong, Forbes.com, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of isolated
Adjective
  • The team now points to interactions between manganese and ytterbium as a possible source of the unusual Hall response.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 3 Oct. 2026
  • The unusual diplomatic rebuke underscored the mistrust between the two countries.
    — Anniek Bao, CNBC, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of unusual
Adjective
  • Diverse characters made infrequent appearances, their storylines often tied to hardship rather than joy.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Clearing the uncertainty Neutron capture reactions are difficult to measure directly because recreating stellar conditions in the laboratory is hard; the reactions are infrequent, and the nuclei involved are short-lived.
    — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of infrequent

Browse Nearby Words

occasion
occasional
occasionally
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Cite this Entry

“Occasional.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/occasional. Accessed 6 Oct. 2026.

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