as in off and on
not constantly or steadily over a period of time
It's been raining on and off all afternoon.
Related Words
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Dissimilar Words
as in recurrent
occurring or appearing at intervals
an on-and-off friendship over the years
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of on and off
Adam Harrington, CBS News, 6 Apr. 2026
Carter and Duff were on-and-off as young teens from 2000 until 2003.
—Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Apr. 2026
Judge Joel Bennathan sentenced Matvei Rumiantsev, a 23-year-old Russian national, to two years in prison after being found guilty of assault for abusing his on-and-off girlfriend.
—Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 27 Mar. 2026
Trump said at the start of a roughly five-minute, on-and-off diatribe on the Sharpie.
—ABC News, 26 Mar. 2026
After years of an on-and-off feud — which viewers had grown tired of — Giudice, Gorga and Joe Gorga, Giudice’s brother (who’s also in the main cast), made up last year.
—Payton Turkeltaub, Variety, 24 Mar. 2026
Perhaps the most notorious example is Carrie and Big’s on-and-off again fling in Sex and the City, which stretched across six seasons and two movies, causing no shortage of headaches for the girls.
—Jenna Ryu, SELF, 19 Mar. 2026
The two officially ended their relationship in December 2024, after the birth of their son but have kept up on-and-off romantic contact with each other since.
—Lauryn Overhultz, FOXNews.com, 18 Mar. 2026
Hamilton, a seven-time Formula One World Drivers' Championship titleholder and driver for Ferrari, was reportedly in an on-and-off-again relationship with Pussycat Dolls star Nicole Scherzinger from 2007 to 2015.
—Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 17 Mar. 2026
Adjective
The woman accused of killing her on-and-off-again boyfriend and his parents in Chicago's south suburbs appeared in court Monday.
—Adam Harrington, CBS News, 6 Apr. 2026
Carter and Duff were on-and-off as young teens from 2000 until 2003.
—Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Apr. 2026
Judge Joel Bennathan sentenced Matvei Rumiantsev, a 23-year-old Russian national, to two years in prison after being found guilty of assault for abusing his on-and-off girlfriend.
—Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 27 Mar. 2026
Trump said at the start of a roughly five-minute, on-and-off diatribe on the Sharpie.
—ABC News, 26 Mar. 2026
After years of an on-and-off feud — which viewers had grown tired of — Giudice, Gorga and Joe Gorga, Giudice’s brother (who’s also in the main cast), made up last year.
—Payton Turkeltaub, Variety, 24 Mar. 2026
Perhaps the most notorious example is Carrie and Big’s on-and-off again fling in Sex and the City, which stretched across six seasons and two movies, causing no shortage of headaches for the girls.
—Jenna Ryu, SELF, 19 Mar. 2026
The two officially ended their relationship in December 2024, after the birth of their son but have kept up on-and-off romantic contact with each other since.
—Lauryn Overhultz, FOXNews.com, 18 Mar. 2026
Hamilton, a seven-time Formula One World Drivers' Championship titleholder and driver for Ferrari, was reportedly in an on-and-off-again relationship with Pussycat Dolls star Nicole Scherzinger from 2007 to 2015.
—Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 17 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for on and off
Adverb
-
Just then the lights in the apartment flicked off and on, then off again, leaving them in the dark, so Louise hung up.—
Catherine Lacey,
New Yorker,
5 Apr. 2026
-
Gadiano worked in the fields off and on from childhood into middle age.—
Kerry Klein,
NPR,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The researchers watched each adult closely for about three years and examined how many had a recurrent heart attack, were hospitalized for heart failure or died from any cause.—
Jacqueline Howard,
CNN Money,
30 Mar. 2026
-
For clinicians evaluating recurrent or chronic pelvic, abdominal, urinary, or musculoskeletal pain in reproductive-age patients, menstrual timing should be considered a meaningful diagnostic variable.—
Sarah Berg,
STAT,
26 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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Those soft stripes are seen woven sporadically throughout the fluffy look, like in her tendrils and along the crown.—
Marci Robin,
Allure,
8 Apr. 2026
-
Over the next nine months of repairs, time started and stopped sporadically.—
Alex Robert Ross,
Pitchfork,
5 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The Bell Street Bridge encampment was prioritized for closure as part of Downtown Rising – the first phase of Atlanta Rising, a multi-year campaign launched in 2025 to end unsheltered homelessness citywide and make homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring.—
Emily McLeod,
CBS News,
7 Mar. 2026
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This was and is a non-recurring, cyclical business totally dependent on transaction volumes, which fluctuate with economic cycles and interest rates.—
Josh Brown,Sean Russo,
CNBC,
15 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
While seated in the back of the cruiser, Woods is seen hiccupping and intermittently closing his eyes, at one point leaning back and keeping them shut for several seconds before facing forward again.—
Alaa Elassar,
CNN Money,
3 Apr. 2026
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The Houthis effectively closed off container shipping in the Suez Canal for nearly two years by intermittently attacking ships in the Red Sea and its chokepoint, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, with missiles and drones.—
Glenn Taylor,
Sourcing Journal,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Fantastic, illumined by periodic excursions into surrealism, as when the crew of a mysterious UFO boards a transpacific Kahuna Airlines jet midflight.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Lebanon’s fragile sovereignty The lack of resolved borders and Israel’s periodic incursions into southern Lebanon have predictably meant that Lebanon has struggled to assert sovereignty over its own territory.—
Mireille Rebeiz,
The Conversation,
8 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Schools check kids’ vision, but follow-up is spotty State law requires schools to periodically check kids’ vision starting in kindergarten.—
Kristen Hwang,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Apr. 2026
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Her name was entered into national databases for missing children and Lahti said investigators would revisit her case periodically as the years passed and the trail grew cold.—
Corky Siemaszko,
NBC news,
3 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
Cite this Entry
“On and off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/on%20and%20off. Accessed 12 Apr. 2026.
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