sometimes
Syllables: some·times/ˈsʌm.taɪmz/
sometimes adverb: on some occasions, over some periods, or in certain circumstances, but not always.
Adverb
sometimes (not comparable)
- On some occasions, over some periods, or in certain circumstances, but not always.
- Sometimes I sit and think, but mostly I just sit.
- It is good that we sometimes be contradicted, and ill though of, and that we always bear it well, even when we deserve to be well spoken of : perfect peace and security cannot be had in this world.a. 1667, Jeremy Taylor, “Agenda; or, Things to Be Done”, in The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D., volume III, London: Frederick Westley and A. H. Davis, published 1836, page 730
- On a certain occasion in the past; once.
- What art thou that vſurp’ſt this time of night, / Together with that Faire and Warlike forme / In which the Maieſty of buried Denmarke / Did ſometimes march : By Heauen I charge thee ſpeake.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
- For yee were sometimes darkenesse, but now are yee light in the Lord: walke as children of light […]1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ephesians 5:8
- Synonyms:
- at one time, in the past, sometime, afore, aforehand, already, antecedently, before, beforehand, beforetime
Adjective
sometimes (not comparable)
- Former; sometime.
- Farewell old Gaunt, thy ſometimes brothers wife / With her companion Greefe, muſt end her life.1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to...
sometimes meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
sometimes in Hindi
- on certain occasions, but not always
- कभी कभी kabhī kabhī, कभी kabhī
sometimes in Tamil
- சிலவேளைகளில், எப்பொழுதாவது, எப்போதாவது, ஒருகால்
sometimes in Marathi
- sometimes
- कधी kadhī
sometimes in Urdu
- on certain occasions, but not always
- کبھی کبھی kabhī kabhī, کبھی kabhī, گاہے gāhe, گاہے گاہے gāhe-gāhe, کبھی کبھار kabhī-kabhār, گاہے ماہے gāhe-māhe
More languagesFewer languages
- sometimes in Bengali
- কখনো সখনো kokhonō śokhonō
- sometimes in Telugu
- అప్పుడప్పుడు appuḍappuḍu
- sometimes in Malayalam
- ചിലപ്പോഴൊക്കെ cilappōḻokke
- sometimes in Kannada
- ಆಗಾಗ್ಗೆ āgāgge
- sometimes in Punjabi
- ਕਦੀ kadī, ਕਦੇ ਕਦੇ kade kade
- sometimes in Gujarati
- ક્યારેક, કેટલીકવાર, ક્યારેક-ક્યારેક
- sometimes in Odia
- ବେଳେବେଳେ, ବେଳେ ବେଳେ
- sometimes in Sanskrit
- कदापि kadāpi
- sometimes in Assamese
- কেতিয়াবা ketiaba
- sometimes in Nepali
- कहिलेकाहीँ, कहिलेकाँही
- sometimes in Tagalog
- minsan
- sometimes in Arabic
- أَحْيَانًا ʔaḥyānan, سَاعَات sāʕēt, أَوْقات awʔāt, أحيانا ʔaḥyānan
- sometimes in Malay
- kadang-kadang
- sometimes in Indonesian
- kadang
- sometimes in Persian
- بعضیوقتها ba'zi-vaqt-hâ, گاهی gâhi
- sometimes in Thai
- บางที baang-tii, บางครั้ง baang-kráng
- sometimes in Vietnamese
- thỉnh thoảng
- sometimes in Myanmar
- တစ်ခါတစ်ခါ tachkatachka, ရံဖန်ရံခါ ramhpanramhka
Examples of sometimes in a sentence
- He could not be induced to remain permanently at Mohair because Miss Trevor was at Asquith, but he appropriated a Hempstead cart from the Mohair stables and made the trip sometimes twice in a day.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company...
- The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight.2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, archived from the original on 19 Sep 2020, page 55:
- In 16th and 17th century Britain, for example, women’s alopecia was sometimes interpreted as retribution for sins, including adultery.2024 March 31, Glen Jankowski, “Alopecia in art history: The many ways women’s hair loss has been interpreted”, in CNN:
Synonyms of sometimes
- at one time or another
- at times
- every so often
- from time to time
- occasionally
- once in a while
- ever and anon
- every once in a while
- every now and then
- intermittently
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of sometimes
| alternative form | sts. |
|---|
Origin of sometimes
From Middle English sumtymes, somtymes, som tymes, equivalent to sometime + -s (adverbial suffix). Compare West Frisian somstiden (“sometimes”), Dutch somtijds, somwijlen (“sometimes”).
Words formed from sometimes
Phrases with sometimes
Questions about sometimes
- What does sometimes mean?
- Sometimes means on some occasions, over some periods, or in certain circumstances, but not always.
- What is sometimes in Hindi?
- Sometimes in Hindi is कभी कभी (kabhī kabhī), कभी (kabhī). See Sometimes meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use sometimes in a sentence?
- He could not be induced to remain permanently at Mohair because Miss Trevor was at Asquith, but he appropriated a Hempstead cart from the Mohair stables and made the trip sometimes twice in a day.
- What part of speech is sometimes?
- Sometimes can be an adverb or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce sometimes?
- Sometimes is pronounced /ˈsʌm.taɪmz/.
Words near sometimes in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sometimes (page history and authors); sometimes (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); कधी (Marathi) (page history and authors); ಆಗಾಗ್ಗೆ (Kannada) (page history and authors); sometimes (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sometimes (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); কেতিয়াবা (Assamese) (page history and authors); sometimes (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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-sometimes.ogg.
Cite this entry: “sometimes.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sometimes. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.