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Synonyms

fits and starts

Cultural  

  1. To do something in “fits and starts” is to do it intermittently or sporadically: “Martina has been working on her master's thesis in fits and starts; she needs to work on it consistently.”

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.

Breaks in the case have come and fits and starts.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026

After a courtship that unfurled in fits and starts, they married in 1996.

From Salon • Feb. 12, 2026

The U.S. has tried in fits and starts over many decades to develop hypersonic-speed weapons with minimal success.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 20, 2026

But the IPO market had its fair share of fits and starts in 2025, with Liberation Day-related volatility and a fall government shutdown temporarily leading to lulls in new issuance activity.

From Barron's • Jan. 2, 2026

As it skids down the steep, irregular terrain in fits and starts, the mass of ice splinters into a jumble of huge, tottering blocks called seracs, some as large as office buildings.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

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.