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
There’s also the occasional luxury cruise ship that makes its way to Galveston to pick up cruisers for their vacations.
—
Megan Dubois,
Southern Living,
25 June 2026
Below the outlet the river flattened out again with an occasional spot of current.
—
Marc Terziev,
Outdoor Life,
25 June 2026
There was chanting, dancing, a bit of drinking and the occasional smoke bomb — like the one lit by a kid in a Frenkie de Jong jersey.
—
Pete Grathoff,
Kansas City Star,
25 June 2026
Instead of demanding personal fealty or humiliating them to assert personal dominance, Lincoln absorbed their egos and occasional slights, elevating their talents and turning his fiercest political adversaries into his most devoted champions.
—
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld,
Fortune,
24 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for occasional
Megan Dubois,
Southern Living,
25 June 2026
Below the outlet the river flattened out again with an occasional spot of current.
—
Marc Terziev,
Outdoor Life,
25 June 2026
There was chanting, dancing, a bit of drinking and the occasional smoke bomb — like the one lit by a kid in a Frenkie de Jong jersey.
—
Pete Grathoff,
Kansas City Star,
25 June 2026
Instead of demanding personal fealty or humiliating them to assert personal dominance, Lincoln absorbed their egos and occasional slights, elevating their talents and turning his fiercest political adversaries into his most devoted champions.
—
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld,
Fortune,
24 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for occasional
Recent Examples of Synonyms for occasional
Adjective
-
Utility Iren was doubling workers' shifts and adding generators to address sporadic power cuts in Turin as the electricity grid came under strain, a spokesperson said.
-
While attractive due to its proximity to strong local and regional gas markets, exploration for this gas has been sporadic in the basin since the mid-1980s, with experts noting pilot projects were uneconomic, temporarily abandoned or failed.
Adjective
-
Food also figured into other odd roadway incidents.
-
Maternal Instinct lays out how Parker moved from a web of odd, though ultimately harmless lies about the fake pregnancy to killing her pregnant friend (Simmons-Hancock), and abducting her unborn fetus to present to her then-boyfriend, Wade Griffin, as their own.
Adjective
-
That would explain the intermittent touring stints in decades since.
-
In just over a month, the company submitted claims for 78,663 items, mostly intermittent urinary catheters.
Adjective
-
Even as brutal heat waves become longer, more frequent and more intense in Europe, air conditioning remains very rare in European homes.
-
With one out, Paul Goldschmidt beat out a rare infield single before Chisholm homered to right-center.
Adjective
-
From a fatal weekend crash on the I-184 Connector to a sudden summer cooldown, here’s a roundup of top stories the Idaho Statesman has published this week.
-
The blockbuster rulings that dominate the news cycle each June are not sudden flashes of judicial willpower.
Adjective
-
Avoid tall, isolated trees or other elevated objects.
-
What initially appeared to be an isolated classroom incident eventually became the foundation for more than a decade of research and writing for Pryor.
Adjective
-
What Trump is doing is unusual.
-
Heat domes are not unusual, but the temperatures in this one have been.
Adjective
-
That Cena and André are so good together is all the more striking in a movie that affords them such infrequent overlap.
-
Is the use case too simple or infrequent to justify the overhead?
Cite this Entry
“Occasional.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/occasional. Accessed 30 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
