oft

[ awft, oft ]

adverb

, Literary.

1. often.

OFT

¹

abbreviation for

1. Office of Fair Trading

oft

²

/ ɒft /

adverb

1. short for often (archaic or poetic except in combinations such as oft-repeated and oft-recurring )

Word History and Origins

Origin of oft¹

before 900; Middle English oft ( e ), Old English oft; cognate with Old Frisian ofta, Old Saxon oft ( o ), German oft, Old Norse opt

Word History and Origins

Origin of oft¹

Old English oft; related to Old High German ofto

Example Sentences

The executive order he issued was a down payment on his oft-stated goal of making health care affordable and accessible to more Americans.

From Washington Post

The sharp landscape of the Purcells is shot through with avalanche paths where this oft-formidable snowpack frequently releases itself and thunders down the mountain, destroying everything in its path.

From Time

It’s an oft-cited statistic that 96 percent of American schoolchildren can identify Ronald McDonald.

From Eater

An oft-cited example of the trend is Shopify, the Canadian company that helps shops create online stores that have gone bonkers amid the pandemic.

From Fortune

San Diego’s oft-delayed Pure Water project – a bid to create a third of the city’s water from recycled sewage – scored a victory in court Friday that could get the $5 billion project back on track.

From Voice of San Diego

If the oft-talked-about college “hook-up culture” could be embodied by a place, it would be Shooters.

From The Daily Beast

The evolution of style is oft studied but rarely understood in any comprehensive manner.

From The Daily Beast

First, the amazing and oft-commented upon speed at which public opinion has flipped.

From The Daily Beast

The conforms of systemic racism have caused a precious grasping of your blackness that oft times seeks to destroy us.

From The Daily Beast

Despite the oft-repeated phrase “all publicity is good publicity,” most people with common sense know this is not true.

From The Daily Beast

The Swiss soon found out that in Hephzibah he was dealing with a truthful girl; for the tale, though oft repeated, never varied.

From Project Gutenberg

Full oft, indeed,They gold and silver will despise, bills ofExchange preferring.

From Project Gutenberg

Many a time and oft had she pleaded, with tears, to the remorseless girl who looked so soft and yielding.

From Project Gutenberg

"Surely there can be no harm or danger," thought Bessie; but she remembered the oft-repeated warnings of her parents and aunt.

From Project Gutenberg

As Bill looked over his oft-appraised stock, it seemed to have lost much of its one-time charm.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• a great deal
• considerably
• exceptionally
• extremely
• frequently
• highly
• indeed
• often
• regularly
• very