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on-again, off-again

or on-a·gain-off-a·gain

[ on-uh-gen awf-uh-gen, of-, awn- ]
/ ˈɒn əˌgɛn ˈɔf əˌgɛn, ˈɒf-, ˈɔn- /
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR on-again, off-again ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

being in force or inoperative by turns, especially spasmodically and unpredictably: an on-again, off-again romance.

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RELATED WORDS

alternate, arrested, broken, cyclic, cyclical, discontinuous, fitful, hit-or-miss, infrequent, interrupted, isochronal, isochronous, iterative, metrical, occasional, periodic, periodical, recurrent, rhythmic, rhythmical

Nearby words

  1. on trial,
  2. on view,
  3. on welfare,
  4. on your life,
  5. on, be,
  6. on-air,
  7. on-camera,
  8. on-glide,
  9. on-limits,
  10. on-looker

Origin of on-again, off-again

First recorded in 1945–50
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019