off and on
Idioms-
Also, on and off.
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Intermittently, from time to time. For example, I read his column off and on , or We've been working on the garden all summer, on and off . [Early 1500s]
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Also, off again, on again ; on again, off again . Uncertain, vacillating, as in Theirs is an off again, on again relationship , or The peace talks are on again, off again . Some believe this term originally referred to minor railroad accidents, where a train went off track and then on again. [Mid-1800s]
Vocabulary lists containing off-and-on
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.
Armenia’s public pushback against Putin has taken place against a broader decoupling between Russia and the former Soviet state, which had been under Moscow’s rule off and on for more than 100 years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
He now works off and on as a tailor.
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
"I like her attitude off and on court. Off court, she is really humble. There are a lot of kids like me who look up to her."
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
I did that for off and on throughout like seven-ish years, but I always loved acting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
Only wind in the trees which blew the wires and made the lights go off and on again as if the house had winked into the darkness.
From " The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
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.
