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Synonyms

a while back

Idioms  
  1. Also, a while ago. Some time in the past, as in I ran into Barbara a while back but didn't get her new address, or John wrote me a while ago about his new baby. This term uses a while in the sense of “a short or moderate time,” a usage dating from about 1300.


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.

Writer Greg Stolze posted a while back about “some professor” who “put googly eyes on a pencil and waved it at his class saying ‘Hi!

From The Wall Street Journal • May 3, 2026

Armstrong issued a statement over the weekend, saying she wanted to "clear the air about something that happened a while back".

From BBC • Sep. 10, 2024

“I remember one a while back that was a roller and those are scary because they keep going on, but this was a quick hit, was over and that’s it.”

From New York Times • Feb. 9, 2024

“Basically,” Kramer said over breakfast a while back, pointing toward his forehead, “what you see here is not mine.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 25, 2023

The school had abandoned uniforms a while back, but the dress code was still pretty strict.

From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely

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