routinely
Americanadverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of routinely
Explanation
When you do something routinely, you do it often and regularly. Many people routinely brush their teeth before they go to bed and again when they wake up in the morning. Something that's become a habit or an often repeated series of actions is done routinely. Your actual daily routine is one example of this — you might routinely eat cereal for breakfast, or routinely feed your cat at 5:00, for example. You can also say that a movie critic who always seems to find some fault with a film routinely trashes all your favorite movies. The French root is routine, "usual course of action," from route, "way or path."
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.
My kids and I routinely host a tasting of chips collected around the world.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025
When I was a kid, we’d routinely host dinners for incoming Kashmiris who looked our name up in the phone book and asked to come by for a meal and a little advice.
From New York Times • Jan. 24, 2023
Other companies, such as Microsoft, routinely host financial analysts for events and briefings that enable them to mingle with senior leaders and gain a better understanding of the business.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 9, 2020
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.