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Synonyms

a while back

Idioms  
  1. Also, a while ago. Some time in the past, as in I ran into Barbara a while back but didn't get her new address, or John wrote me a while ago about his new baby. This term uses a while in the sense of “a short or moderate time,” a usage dating from about 1300.


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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Writer Greg Stolze posted a while back about “some professor” who “put googly eyes on a pencil and waved it at his class saying ‘Hi!

From The Wall Street Journal May 3, 2026

I went with my son to the Macedonia game a while back and the atmosphere at Old Trafford was electric.

From BBC Oct. 9, 2025

I lost the conversation’s thread a while back, so I ask him, “Do you travel much?”

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 12, 2024

“I remember one a while back that was a roller and those are scary because they keep going on, but this was a quick hit, was over and that’s it.”

From New York Times Feb. 9, 2024

An intellectual roughneck—that’s what one teacher had called him a while back.

From "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier

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