frequently
Americanadverb
Related Words
See often.
Etymology
Origin of frequently
Explanation
If you do something frequently, you do it repeatedly, again and again. If you frequently visit the cookie jar, you might gain some unwanted pounds. Doctors and nurses have to wash their hands frequently, many times each day, since they touch various patients and don't want to spread germs. When you're driving in rush hour traffic, you usually find yourself stopping frequently. Things that occur over and over, especially in a relatively short time frame, happen frequently. The adverb frequently comes from the adjective frequent, which originally meant "profuse or ample," from the Latin root frequentem, "crowded or repeated."
Vocabulary lists containing frequently
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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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.
In Hollywood films and literary tropes, spiders come ideologically loaded and are frequently coupled with the feminine.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
Many patients currently struggle to access treatment because insurers frequently deny or delay cancer care.
From Salon • May 15, 2026
McCluskie needed the money, according to prosecutors, so he could afford to fly home frequently to see his family in California while working for Becerra, who was Biden’s health secretary, in Washington, D.C.
From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2026
Israeli troops, he said, were in houses at the top of the hill that overlooked their base and had frequently fired in their direction.
From BBC • May 13, 2026
She and Dr. van Heerden argued about it frequently.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
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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.