intermittently
Americanadverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of intermittently
Explanation
The adverb intermittently describes something that starts, then stops, then starts up again. If you studied intermittently last night, that means sometimes you studied but sometimes you took breaks to do other things. If something happens intermittently, it doesn’t happen all the time or in a steady flow, but goes in fits and starts. It might rain intermittently on Monday or your car might intermittently refuse to start. Make sure you spell intermittently with two “t”s. You can blame the Latin for that: intermittently evolved from the Latin root intermittĕre, which means “to cease.”
Vocabulary lists containing intermittently
Unbroken
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The Haunting of Hill House
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Kindred
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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.
Residents might intermittently smell MMA, which emits a fruity odor, throughout the cleanup, but health officials said it will be only at concentrations below any threshold that would prompt health concerns.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 27, 2026
Many of its most ambitious features are still under development; several of its current functions work only intermittently.
From Slate • Jun. 20, 2026
"The Bergstrom site presented a puzzle because it was used intermittently and abandoned when bison were common throughout the region and hunting was intense," Wendt explained.
From Science Daily • Jun. 11, 2026
Elder sister Venus has played intermittently on the WTA Tour over the past few years and reached the quarter-finals of the US Open women's doubles last year.
From BBC • May 28, 2026
Olanna sat opposite three little children in threadbare clothes and slippers who giggled intermittently while their father gave them severe looks.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
