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.”
-
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.
The Dodgers can never be fully counted out for a big swing, of course.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Celeste replied "of course its yours David", according to testimony from a detective.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
You didn’t know you were going to lose your job, of course, but you also didn’t know your rent was going to rise by $500.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
It is, of course, good news when people get richer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
The next morning I looked out, but the truck was gone, and of course the minivan was gone, too.
From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott
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.
