sometime
Americanadverb
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at some indefinite or indeterminate point of time.
He will arrive sometime next week.
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at an indefinite future time.
Come to see me sometime.
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Archaic. sometimes; on some occasions.
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Archaic. at one time; formerly.
adjective
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having been formerly; former.
The diplomat was a sometime professor of history at Oxford.
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being so only at times or to some extent.
Traveling so much, he could never be more than a sometime husband.
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that cannot be depended upon regarding affections or loyalties.
He was well rid of his sometime girlfriend.
adverb
adjective
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(prenominal) having been at one time; former
the sometime President
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(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.
Continuously inhabited for the last quarter-century, the aging ISS is scheduled to be pushed out of Earth's orbit before crashing into one of Earth's oceans sometime around 2030.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
Miami's ambitious plans aside, most Cubans just hope their days get a little easier sometime soon.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
Wigglesworth: I was going through Bank for International Settlements data and discovered the global bond market had become bigger than the banking system for the first time ever, sometime in the late 2010s.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026
That is different from when the economy is doing well and yields are ticking higher just because investors expect rate increases sometime in the distant future.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
There was pressure in the air; rain coming, sometime soon.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
