of course
Idioms-
In the customary or expected order, naturally, as in The new minister did not, of course, fire the church secretary . This usage, first recorded in 1548, employs course in the sense of “ordinary procedure.”
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Certainly, as in Of course I'll answer the phone , or Are you going to the meeting?—Of course . [Early 1800s] Also see matter of course .
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.
It does not, of course, have to be this way.
From Slate • Jul. 2, 2026
People are furious at the referee, the clumsy VAR process, and, of course, at FIFA, soccer’s governing fiefdom.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 2, 2026
The difference between a $3,500 donation and a nearly $50,000 donation is, of course, stark.
From Salon • Jul. 2, 2026
Yes, of course there are, there always are, there always will be.
From BBC • Jul. 1, 2026
Mutti could see this, I think, and became all the more maternal and attentive towards me, which only made things worse, of course.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
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.
