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
Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 9 Feb. 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, but has otherwise not been heavily linked with anyone else publicly.
—Taijuan Moorman, USA Today, 9 Feb. 2026
After the split, Bad Bunny seemed to mind about Kendall reuniting with her other on-and-off ex Devin Booker.
—Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 8 Feb. 2026
Anne Lindholm, the future Anna Haycraft, was studying at the Liverpool School of Art, where Bainbridge’s on-and-off boyfriend, a painter named Austin Davies, studied and later taught (counting John Lennon among his students).
—Christopher Tayler, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
Van Patten and White star in Tell Me Lies as Lucy and Stephen, a toxic, on-and-off couple whose relationship begins in college and runs the course of nearly a decade.
—Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 20 Jan. 2026
After a week of on-and-off flurries, weather officials say a cold spell is in the forecast for the weekend, with highs in the cool teens for the Chicago Bears’ playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams.
—Tess Kenny, Chicago Tribune, 16 Jan. 2026
Snow is expected to continue on-and-off through Friday afternoon, with temperatures reaching highs of 33 to 34 degrees, Heeren said.
—Maia Pandey, jsonline.com, 16 Jan. 2026
Last season of Tell Me Lies, Hulu’s soapy, sardonic drama about a toxic on-and-off relationship between college students Lucy Albright (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen DeMarco (Jackson White), ended with a bang—literally.
—Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 13 Jan. 2026
Adjective
The two were tabloid regulars for the duration of their on-and-off-again tryst, but they haven't been spotted together since May of 2024.
—Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 9 Feb. 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, but has otherwise not been heavily linked with anyone else publicly.
—Taijuan Moorman, USA Today, 9 Feb. 2026
After the split, Bad Bunny seemed to mind about Kendall reuniting with her other on-and-off ex Devin Booker.
—Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 8 Feb. 2026
Anne Lindholm, the future Anna Haycraft, was studying at the Liverpool School of Art, where Bainbridge’s on-and-off boyfriend, a painter named Austin Davies, studied and later taught (counting John Lennon among his students).
—Christopher Tayler, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
Van Patten and White star in Tell Me Lies as Lucy and Stephen, a toxic, on-and-off couple whose relationship begins in college and runs the course of nearly a decade.
—Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 20 Jan. 2026
After a week of on-and-off flurries, weather officials say a cold spell is in the forecast for the weekend, with highs in the cool teens for the Chicago Bears’ playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams.
—Tess Kenny, Chicago Tribune, 16 Jan. 2026
Snow is expected to continue on-and-off through Friday afternoon, with temperatures reaching highs of 33 to 34 degrees, Heeren said.
—Maia Pandey, jsonline.com, 16 Jan. 2026
Last season of Tell Me Lies, Hulu’s soapy, sardonic drama about a toxic on-and-off relationship between college students Lucy Albright (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen DeMarco (Jackson White), ended with a bang—literally.
—Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 13 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for on and off
Adverb
-
The far-right politician is suddenly distancing himself from an American president who, off and on over the last year, has made aggressive plays to annex Greenland, targeting Danish borders that have existed for roughly 300 years.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Jan. 2026
-
Sporadic rain Friday will turn to freezing rain and ice around midnight that will continue off and on until Sunday morning.—
Brandon Miller,
CNN Money,
23 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Bad Bunny, the first Spanish-language Latin solo artist to headline the Super Bowl, also included everything from symbolism around recurrent power outages in Puerto Rico to a real wedding that happened onstage mid-show.—
Angela Yang,
NBC news,
10 Feb. 2026
-
In central defence, Antonio Rudiger and Eder Militao have suffered recurrent injuries, a situation surely influenced by Madrid’s intense schedule.—
Mario Cortegana,
New York Times,
4 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
In our view, Boise State and San Diego State, in particular, had grown weary of subsidizing the lower-value, sporadically competitive schools in the Mountain West.—
Jon Wilner,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Feb. 2026
-
Everyone’s blood sugar levels sporadically spike, and that’s normal, but keeping it steady helps prevent energy crashes, hunger pangs, and mood swings, Dardarian says.—
Julia Ries Wexler,
Outside,
4 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
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
-
This will be a semi-recurring role that films in January and February.—
Brayden Garcia,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
12 Dec. 2025
Adverb
-
Calls for Lang to step down intensified since files released on January 30 by the US Department of Justice showed Epstein and Lang corresponding intermittently between 2012 and 2019, when the financier died by suicide in jail.—
Reuters 13 hr ago,
CNN Money,
7 Feb. 2026
-
After 15 days without internet access, civilians were gradually able to reconnect to social media intermittently.—
Molly Hunter,
NBC news,
30 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The bridge eventually gained a reputation for being the victim of periodic vehicle strikes, frequent enough that a local merchant who owned a store nearby kept buckets of paint and some repair supplies handy at the back of his shop.—
Joseph States,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Feb. 2026
-
Many online precious metal dealers run periodic sales, offer discounts on specific products or provide incentives like free shipping above certain order amounts.—
Angelica Leicht,
CBS News,
3 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
Risher previously told Fortune that acting as a driver periodically enables him to target areas for improvement within the company.—
Sasha Rogelberg,
Fortune,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Our practices may change from time to time, so please check back here periodically to review our latest policy.—
Hazlitt,
Hazlitt,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
In order to strengthen the grid as a result of the addition of intermittent renewables, Chinese authorities have also added utility-scale batteries to a subsidy program aimed at accelerating the green transition.—
Prashant Rao,
semafor.com,
5 Feb. 2026
-
Workers had begun a series of intermittent labor actions in September in protest of the lease, while lobbying groups have accused the port authority of hiking service charges to deliberately make the port’s operations look more profitable to DP World.—
Glenn Taylor,
Sourcing Journal,
3 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“On and off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/on%20and%20off. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.
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