as in former
having been such at some previous time
the once child star is now a lawyer in the entertainment industry
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in when
just at the moment that
you should have stopped wrestling once you knew someone was getting hurt, not five minutes later
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of once
Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 16 May 2026
Pickle juice, once an afterthought at the bottom of a jar, is now being treated as a functional ingredient and a marketing hook, signaling just how far the trend has come.
—Anthony Thompson, USA Today, 16 May 2026
Nandika Chatterjee, Time, 5 Nov. 2025
The flights through the once Category 5 storm have been particularly hairy, with one of the NOAA aircraft having to return to its base for a safety inspection after exceeding its g-force limits from the turbulence.
—Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 31 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for once
Adverb
The displacement of the creative class that once gave cities their productive friction.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 16 May 2026
Pickle juice, once an afterthought at the bottom of a jar, is now being treated as a functional ingredient and a marketing hook, signaling just how far the trend has come.
—Anthony Thompson, USA Today, 16 May 2026
Adjective
The once summer home became a residential dwelling once more.
—Nandika Chatterjee, Time, 5 Nov. 2025
The flights through the once Category 5 storm have been particularly hairy, with one of the NOAA aircraft having to return to its base for a safety inspection after exceeding its g-force limits from the turbulence.
—Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 31 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for once
Recent Examples of Synonyms for once
Adverb
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Wanted, the musical formerly known as Gun & Powder, is heading to Broadway this fall with Solea Pfeiffer and Liisi LaFontaine starring as the real-life Mary and Martha Clarke, respectively, Black twin sisters who passed as white in 1893 Texas.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
13 May 2026
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Aside from a solo operator or someone more interested in music, that in practice leaves ATG Entertainment, formerly the Ambassador Theatre Group, which, for my money would be far and away the best owner of the theater from a Chicago theatergoer’s point of view.—
Chris Jones,
Chicago Tribune,
13 May 2026
Adjective
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López was one of the fiercest critics of then-Mayor Fúnez, a supporter of the mine and close ally of Honduras’ former president, Xiomara Castro.—
Marlon González,
Los Angeles Times,
13 May 2026
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Following the deaths last week of two franchise icons, Braves fans gathered Tuesday night at Truist Park to honor the lives of former manager Bobby Cox and former owner Ted Turner at the team’s game against the Chicago Cubs.—
Ken Sugiura,
AJC.com,
13 May 2026
Adjective
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Most of them were spent on the third defensive pairing, and then the 22-year-old was scratched for Tyson Hinds late in the year as Quenneville favored the size of Hinds, who spent most of his season in the American Hockey League.—
Eric Stephens,
New York Times,
13 May 2026
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Now imagine moving millions of items, each of them delicate, unique, priceless and old.—
Phaedra Trethan,
USA Today,
13 May 2026
Adjective
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One out of every 16 minutes across six hours of NCAA football bowl games referenced gambling — far less than any other sport.—
Luke Connors,
Washington Post,
19 May 2026
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And while track and field adopted the dual-advancement and dual-medal system, the policy does not easily translate to head-to-head contact sports or other athletic competitions, creating what critics see as a glaring inconsistency across the state.—
Alejandro Avila OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
19 May 2026
Adjective
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Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver are reuniting for a special video episode of their erstwhile podcast Strike Force Five, the quintet of late-night hosts announced during their joint appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.—
Natalie Oganesyan,
Deadline,
11 May 2026
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Then, in 2017, Tesla mainstreamed the Model S with the more affordable Model 3, surpassing the erstwhile eco-warrior favorite Prius.—
Brooke Crothers,
Forbes.com,
10 May 2026
Adjective
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And Sharla never really talked about her past life as a computer programmer.—
Laura Isensee,
Scientific American,
18 May 2026
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After a fraught past year of government shutdowns leading to long airport security lines, the Transportation Security Administration is launching a new public-private partnership program called TSA Gold+.—
Kathleen Wong,
USA Today,
18 May 2026
Adjective
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The college student and sometime singer and actress, now 21, made her society debut at the Le Bal des Débutantes in Paris in 2024.—
Miles Socha,
Footwear News,
12 May 2026
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The rain should begin to taper off sometime midday Monday or Monday afternoon followed by clearing skies and a cooler breeze Monday evening into Tuesday.—
Cutter Martin,
CBS News,
6 May 2026
Adjective
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Iran, which says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, was said to have included some nuclear concessions in its latest proposal to end the war.—
Michelle L. Price,
Los Angeles Times,
19 May 2026
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The Federal Aviation Administration’s latest plan to get the air traffic control workforce on better footing makes some important advances.—
Editorial Board,
Washington Post,
19 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Once.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/once. Accessed 19 May. 2026.
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