sometime
Americanadverb
-
at some indefinite or indeterminate point of time.
He will arrive sometime next week.
-
at an indefinite future time.
Come to see me sometime.
-
Archaic. sometimes; on some occasions.
-
Archaic. at one time; formerly.
adjective
-
having been formerly; former.
The diplomat was a sometime professor of history at Oxford.
-
being so only at times or to some extent.
Traveling so much, he could never be more than a sometime husband.
-
that cannot be depended upon regarding affections or loyalties.
He was well rid of his sometime girlfriend.
adverb
adjective
-
(prenominal) having been at one time; former
the sometime President
-
(prenominal) occasional; infrequent
Spelling
The adverb sometime is written as one word: He promised to paint the garage sometime soon. The two-word form some time means “an unspecified interval or period of time”: It will take some time for the wounds to heal.
Usage
The form sometime should not be used to refer to a fairly long period of time: he has been away for some time (not for sometime )
Etymology
Origin of sometime
Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at some, time
Explanation
The adverb sometime means "at a time that's not known or specified." So if you promise to take your friend out for pizza sometime, you're being vague about exactly when it's going to happen. When you tell your parents you got home sometime after ten, you're either not sure exactly what time it was or you're avoiding telling them you didn't get in until midnight. Informally, you can also use sometime to mean "occasional." So if you appear in your school's yearly musical, you can describe yourself as a sometime singer and dancer.
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.
"They go back, they spawn and they die. We never see adults again. The only thing we see are the little, finger-long glass eels coming back sometime within the following year."
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Native to Australia and the South Pacific, the snake likely reached Guam sometime after World War II, possibly by hiding aboard military cargo planes.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
But Roberts said he’s still optimistic that Ohtani will return to the rotation sometime in August.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
Mechanic remembered a party sometime pre-presidency for Witkoff’s wife, Lauren, where Trump was beamed in via video with a birthday greeting, but he couldn’t place when that was.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
And then he said he would get a message to me sometime that week, about my first assignment.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
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.
