of course
Idioms-
In the customary or expected order, naturally, as in The new minister did not, of course, fire the church secretary . This usage, first recorded in 1548, employs course in the sense of “ordinary procedure.”
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Certainly, as in Of course I'll answer the phone , or Are you going to the meeting?—Of course . [Early 1800s] Also see matter of course .
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.
Of course, that would be hard to hear.
From MarketWatch • Jul. 1, 2026
"It's not that I don't want to bring everyone joy. Of course I want everyone to be happy. But this place doesn't carry joy," he wrote.
From BBC • Jul. 1, 2026
Of course, if you already own a broadly diversified index fund, you’re assured of capturing the return of the overall stock market.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 30, 2026
Of course, borrowers can’t be certain of how banks will react to the new proposal until it’s finalized and companies have time to digest it.
From Barron's • Jun. 29, 2026
Of course, she was the one who thought she’d seen a ghost.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
