often
Syllables: oft·enUK/ˈɒfən/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
British/ˈɔfən/
often adverb: frequently; many times on different occasions.
Adverb
often (comparative more often or oftener, superlative most often or oftenest)
- Frequently; many times on different occasions.
- I often walk to work when the weather is nice.
- I’ve been going to the movies more often since a new theatre opened near me.
- Synonyms:
- a lot, oftentimes, typically, feelefold, frequently, manifold, manyfold, oft, oftenly, ofttimes
- Antonyms:
- infrequently, occasionally, rarely, seldom, unoften, scarcely, seldomly, uncommonly
Adjective
often (comparative more often, superlative most often)
- Frequent.
- […] it is a melancholy of mine own, compounded of many simples, extracted from many objects, and, indeed, the sundry contemplation of my travels; in which my often rumination wraps me in a most humorous sadness.c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- Then came the Ladies to visite him, and the Queene gaue him most gracious welcome, desiring him to be of good cheere: For heere is my Daughter (quoth she) right skilfull in the Art of Chirurgerie, that meanes to bee your often visitant.1618, Anthony Munday (translator), The Third Booke of Amadis de Gaule by Nicolas de Herberay des Essarts (1542), London, Chapter 2, p. 18
often meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
often in Hindi
- frequently, many times
- प्रायः prāyaḥ, अक्सर aksar
often in Tamil
- frequently, many times
- அடிக்கடி aṭikkaṭi, பலநேரம் palanēram, அவ்வப்பொழுது avvappoḻutu
often in Marathi
- frequently, many times
- बहुधा bahudhā, खूपदा khūpdā, खूप वेळा khūp veḷā, बर्याचदा baryācdā, अनेकदा anekdā, पुष्कळदा puṣkaḷdā
often in Urdu
- frequently, many times
- اکثر aksar
More languagesFewer languages
- often in Bengali
- প্রায়ই praẏoi
- often in Telugu
- తరచూ taracū, తరచుగా taracugā
- often in Tagalog
- madalas
- often in Arabic
- كَثِيرًا kaṯīran, غَالِبًا ḡāliban, كَثِيرًا مَا kaṯīran mā, غَالِبًا مَا ḡāliban mā
- often in Malay
- sering, kerap, selalu
- often in Indonesian
- sering
- often in Persian
- اغلب aġlab, بارها bârhâ
- often in Thai
- บ่อย bɔ̀i
- often in Vietnamese
- thường, hay, luôn, thường hay
- often in Myanmar
- မကြာခဏ ma.krahka.na., ခဏခဏ hka.na.hka.na., ခုတင်ခု hku.tanghku.
Examples of often in a sentence
- It can't be said too often / often enough.
- ☞ This word [wrap] is often pronounced wrop, rhyming with top, even by ſpeakers much above the vulgar.1791, John Walker, A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary […] , London: Sold by G. G. J. and J. Robinſon, Paternoſter Row; and T. Cadell, in the...
- How often is the comfort of a whole family abridged by some trifling circumstance, that ought not to have made a visible impression!1850, T. S. Arthur, “A Rise in the Butter Market”, in Sketches of Life and Character, Philadelphia: J. W. Bradley, →OCLC, page 59:
- Although frogs are able to swim well and often are found in water, they are really land animals.1912, P. Chalmers Mitchell, “Larvæ and Metamorphoses”, in The Childhood of Animals, New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, →OCLC, page 17:
- Often, their victims pay up rather than face the costs of a legal battle.2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:
Synonyms of often
Antonyms
1 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of often
| Adverb | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more often |
| comparative | oftener |
| superlative | most often |
| superlative | oftenest |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more often |
| superlative | most often |
Origin of often
From Middle English often, alteration (with final -n added due to analogy with Middle English selden (“seldom”)) of Middle English ofte, oft, from Old English oft (“often”), from Proto-Germanic *ufta, *uftō (“often”). Cognates Cognate with Scots affen, aften, af'en, oaffen, oaften, oftin (“often”), North Frisian aaft, oftem, oofting (“often”), Saterland Frisian oafte (“often”), German, Luxembourgish and Pennsylvania German oft (“often”), Yiddish אָפֿט (oft, “often”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk ofte (“often”), Faroese, Swedish ofta (“often”), Icelandic oft (“often”), Gothic 𐌿𐍆𐍄𐌰 (ufta, “often”).
Words formed from often
- as often as not
- do you come here often
- every so often
- many a time and often
- more often than not
- oftenly
- oftenness
- oftentime
- oftenwhiles
- proverbs often come in pairs
- the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry
- the pitcher goes so often to the well that it is broken at last
- times and often
- unoften
Phrases with often
Words that rhyme with often
Questions about often
- What does often mean?
- Often means frequently; many times on different occasions.
- What is often in Hindi?
- Often in Hindi is प्रायः (prāyaḥ), अक्सर (aksar). See Often meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use often in a sentence?
- It can't be said too often / often enough.
- What part of speech is often?
- Often can be an adverb or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce often?
- Often is pronounced /ˈɒfən/ (UK).
Words near often in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: often (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-often.ogg.
Cite this entry: “often.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/often. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.