ON AND OFF Synonyms: 72 Similar and Opposite Words

on and off 1 of 2

adverb

Definition of on and off

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

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

on-and-off

2 of 2

adjective

as in recurrent

occurring or appearing at intervals an on-and-off friendship over the years

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 on and off

Adjective

Her on-and-off boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, and his brother Zach Hickerson were at the home. — ABC News, 28 Oct. 2026 Michael Nader as Dimitri Marick Michael Nader played Dimitri Marick, Erica’s on-and-off-again lover, in All My Children from 1991 to 2001. — Kelly Allen, PEOPLE, 28 Oct. 2026 After nearly five years together, the pair officially ended their on-and-off relationship in November 2024. — Emily Tannenbaum, Glamour, 27 Oct. 2026 The flooding is just the latest episode in two months of on-and-off heavy rain in the region caused by tropical moisture coming ashore from the Pacific. — Anna Wilder, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2026 After two days of on-and-off showers that Central California has not seen months, the rain is coming to a close as of Friday morning. — Sean MacAday, Sacbee.com, 23 Oct. 2026 Not heralded as returning are Adam Driver (who played Hannah’s on-and-off actor boyfriend Adam) and former co-showrunner Jenni Konner (with whom Dunham had a creative breakup after the show ended). — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 13 Oct. 2026 Not mentioned in the returning cast is Adam Driver, who played Hannah’s (Dunham) on-and-off boyfriend in the series. — Rick Porter, HollywoodReporter, 13 Oct. 2026 Adam Driver, who starred as Hannah’s on-and-off love interest Adam, and co-showrunner and executive producer Jenni Konner. — Selome Hailu, Variety, 13 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for on and off

Adverb

The band continued off and on over the following years, with Sara Surkamp joining on acoustic guitar and vocals in 2006.

— Jem Aswad, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026
One man records himself using the claws to screw bottle lids off and on.

— Diaa Hadid, NPR, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of off and on

Adjective

Urinary urgency, frequent urination, burning with urination and recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) can also occur.

— Emily Cegielski, Flow Space, 27 Oct. 2026
But the 2026 study found that only 15% of women diagnosed with recurrent UTIs showed evidence of problems limited to the bladder or urinary tract.

— Hanna Wickes, Sacbee.com, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of recurrent

Adverb

She is perhaps best known for Trifles, an adaptation of her own reporting on a particularly grisly murder case and a withering examination of the violence that sporadically bursts from women in a world where men do violence daily.

— Sara Holdren, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2026
Shortly after, the parents noticed that his left eye was sporadically crossing.

— Luke Chinman, PEOPLE, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of sporadically

Adjective

External revenue rose $118 million from the prior quarter to $411 million, though the increase was primarily due to a non-recurring customer program.

— Zev Fima, CNBC, 30 Oct. 2026
How Recurring Revenue Is The Pump There’s only one kind of funding that reliably shows up in year seven—recurring, unrestricted revenue.

— Sarah Evans, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of recurring

Adverb

And then there is the ever-increasing atomization across media, with political discourse splaying out across countless newsletters that are only intermittently in conversation with one another.

— Dan Adler, Vanity Fair, 2 Nov. 2026
Running or Leaking Toilet Some toilets leak or run intermittently, quietly enough to go unnoticed.

— Rae Ford, Martha Stewart, 25 Oct. 2026

Definition of intermittently

Adjective

The men and women, both of whom split their home games between Hartford and M&T Bank Center at Gampel Pavilion on campus, have staged periodic doubleheaders in the years since, when schedules intersected.

— Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 2 Nov. 2026
The ranch offers periodic whole- and half-animal shares, and also has an on-site store at 1605 Cook Rd.

— Sean Timberlake, Sacbee.com, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of periodic

Adverb

Planetary conjunctions occur periodically, but a conjunction between Jupiter — the night sky’s third-brightest natural object after the moon and Venus — and Mars only happens once every few years, according to Betts.

— Iris Kwok, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2026
After that, the rate can adjust periodically based on changes in a benchmark interest rate, potentially increasing the borrower's monthly payment.

— Mike Winters, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2026

Definition of periodically

Browse Nearby Words

on all hands

on and off

on-and-off

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“On and off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/on%20and%20off. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of on and off

adverb

adjective

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

valorous

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Popular in Wordplay

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes