repeatedly
Americanadverb
Etymology
Origin of repeatedly
Explanation
To do something repeatedly means to do it over and over again. If you text your friend repeatedly during her geometry test, she'll probably get annoyed and turn her phone off. If a teacher tells a student, "I've told you repeatedly that you need to raise your hand before you speak," it means that the teacher has said this many times. This adverb implies an ongoing or even constant kind of activity. At the heart of repeatedly is the verb repeat, which has the Latin root repetere, "do or say again," or "attack again."
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.
Repeatedly arrested under the shah for his anti-imperial activism, Khamenei shortly after the Islamic revolution became Friday prayer leader of Tehran and also served on the frontline during the Iran-Iraq war.
From Barron's • Feb. 28, 2026
Photometric Monitoring: Repeatedly measuring the brightness of a star to detect variations caused by rotation, starspots, or orbiting planets.
From Science Daily • Dec. 4, 2025
Repeatedly, USAir sought perks and incentives from local government and the airport.
From Slate • Nov. 24, 2025
Repeatedly, Sheinbaum has been put in the position of declaring that no one is above the law.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 5, 2025
Repeatedly I took stabs at writing, but the results were so poor that I would tear up the sheets.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
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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.