once in a lifetime

idiom

: very rare or very rarely

a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity

This sort of opportunity comes along once in a lifetime.

Examples of once in a lifetime in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Sip mocktails and learn about this once in a lifetime event, in partnership with The Cincinnati Observatory. —Luann Gibbs, The Enquirer, 7 Apr. 2024

Español Playing for the first time at Miami’s Kaseya Center last month was a once in a lifetime experience for Morat. —Isabela Raygoza, Billboard, 14 Mar. 2024

On social media, particularly youtube, prominent influencers promoted the settlement as a once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire valuable land in Ghana, a country marketed as a prosperous African nation on the rise. —Emmanuel Akinwotu, NPR, 25 Feb. 2024

This is resulting in more people booking these ‘once in a lifetime’ trips. —Judy Koutsky, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024

So the first trip is that wish trip, and that's just a once in a lifetime experience that's week long. —Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 15 Jan. 2024

People are describing the whole night of migration as part of a once in a lifetime thing … (but) this still is an unacceptable intrusion by humans and their architecture. —Todd Richmond, Fortune, 7 Oct. 2023

As our world warms, extreme weather that used to happen once in a lifetime are becoming more frequent occurrences. —Jessie Yeung, CNN, 16 Sep. 2023

In each episode, a musical artist will choose one deserving fan to win a once in a lifetime prize — beginning with LL Cool J (born James Todd Smith). —Daniela Avila, Peoplemag, 3 Aug. 2023