frequently
Americanadverb
Synonym Usage
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.
Superior torque means the electric versions get stuck less frequently than their diesel-powered counterparts, but photographer and guide Mark Dunsmuir said the real prize is the sound of life on the tundra.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
The results show that dormant viruses can reactivate frequently in people who appear to have functioning immune systems during severe illness, particularly when systemic inflammation is elevated.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
For another, Formula 1 and soccer, sports frequently coded as elite and coastal, are experiencing booms of popularity across the country.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
His parents, Michael and Dawn, frequently attended races and even set up their own team in their home in Ceredigion, west Wales.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Yet I had not forgotten his faults; indeed, I could not, for he brought them frequently before me.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
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.
