intermittently
Americanadverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of intermittently
Explanation
The adverb intermittently describes something that starts, then stops, then starts up again. If you studied intermittently last night, that means sometimes you studied but sometimes you took breaks to do other things. If something happens intermittently, it doesn’t happen all the time or in a steady flow, but goes in fits and starts. It might rain intermittently on Monday or your car might intermittently refuse to start. Make sure you spell intermittently with two “t”s. You can blame the Latin for that: intermittently evolved from the Latin root intermittĕre, which means “to cease.”
Vocabulary lists containing intermittently
Unbroken
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The Haunting of Hill House
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Kindred
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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.
Immanuel was a polymath, an intermittently successful entrepreneur and an inventor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
The group continues to face legal proceedings following a recall, initiated in 2021, of its DreamStation sleep apnoea devices, found to stop working intermittently.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
The band has been recording intermittently at her place, and last month she spent a week working at Martians’ studio in rural Georgia.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Other volunteers said that the families of detainees have been intermittently encouraged not to discuss conditions in the facility after visits to their family members.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
And why did he send out his messages intermittently when he could be broadcasting around the clock?
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
