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
-
UNDOC+Collective is a nationwide network devoted to building knowledge, visibility, and sustainability for undoc+ (formerly or currently undocumented) creatives working across the contemporary art ecosystem.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
20 May 2026
-
The company purchased the space, which was formerly a hardware store, in 2024.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
20 May 2026
Adjective
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The company recently shot a pilot for a food travel series Soul Table with former CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin, activist LaTosha Brown and Michelin chef Dominique Crenn (Chef’s Table).—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
19 May 2026
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His appointment suggest a shift in executive profile, from Domenjó, a TV producer and former Satisfaction Iberia and Mediacrest executive, to a long-serving Telefónica operator with deep experience in Latin America and corporate management.—
Emiliano de Pablos,
Variety,
19 May 2026
Adjective
-
One prompted stories of an old cowboy sitting alone on a porch, surveying a ghost town; another prompted stories about a sun rising over a meadow, where tiny creatures awakened and started to frolic.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 May 2026
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Instead of looking frumpy in an old T-shirt, look polished and refined in this shirt that won’t constrict your movements.—
Caroline Hughes,
Travel + Leisure,
20 May 2026
Adjective
-
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
-
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
-
And Sharla never really talked about her past life as a computer programmer.—
Laura Isensee,
Scientific American,
18 May 2026
-
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
-
Actress and sometime performance artist Tilda Swinton will stage a performance at the Guggenheim Bilbao next month.—
Maximilíano Durón,
ARTnews.com,
20 May 2026
-
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
Adjective
-
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
-
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 22 May. 2026.
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