by turns

Idioms  

1. Alternately, one after another, as in She is by turns cheerful, serious, and sad. [First half of 1500s]

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Example Sentences

Yet there emerges a quality by turns bruising and sweet in the depiction of this relationship, Mr. Melling fragile, devoted and desperate for affection until he explodes, Mr. Skarsgård reservedly beautiful but never blank.

From The Wall Street Journal

The baby laughed and wept by turns, and almost never slept.

From Literature

Politically, Cerf was liberal but pragmatic, by turns “shrewd” and “credulous,” according to Ms. Feldman.

From The Wall Street Journal

By turns funny and self-pitying, full of regrets, disappointments and thwarted ambitions, Hart is portrayed by Hawke as a man who has often been his own biggest obstacle and is coming to realize his time has passed him by.

From Los Angeles Times

All weekend long, the headlines out of Minneapolis have captured a moment that is by turns alarming and bizarre.

From Slate