occurring or proceeding in or as if in the logical, natural, or customary course of things; expected or inevitable.
accepting things as occurring in their natural course, or characterized by an acceptance of things as such.
to be matter-of-course in confronting the difficulties of existence.
(usually postpositive) occurring as a matter of course
accepting things as inevitable or natural
a matter-of-course attitude
First recorded in 1730–40
First recorded in 1830–40
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When governments and their advisers are, as matter of course, using AI to improve their decision-making, expect fewer purblind, tunnel-visioned strategic decisions based on wishful thinking.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026
As a practical matter, of course, that may be difficult, since anyone who will be named by a federal court or approved by the Senate may have too much integrity to pursue such baseless charges.
From Slate • Nov. 24, 2025
No matter, of course, because the team’s current roster also includes Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 13, 2025
"Maybe if they had tested the drugs as a matter of course, the warning bells about this drug could have been sounded sooner."
From BBC • Jan. 3, 2024
The Quaker petition should be heard and forwarded to a committee 4 as a matter of course.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
