Phrase guide

more often than not

adv · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

adv

Meaning 1

Usually; more than half the time; more likely to be the case than not to be the case.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: comparative-only, idiomatic

Examples

  • Near-synonyms: commonly, frequently; usually; see also Thesaurus:usually
  • More often than not, tomato seeds will sprout even if they are a couple of years old.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: most of the time, commonly, frequently, usually, as a rule, conventionally, customarily, in general, generally, habitually, nine times out of ten, normally, oftest, ordinarily, predominantly, principally, typically

Antonyms: none provided

2

adverb

Meaning 2

usually; as a rule

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • by and large it doesn't rain much here

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: by and large, generally, mostly

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Origin obscure. Semantically equivalent to, and often understood as, an ellipsis of more often than not so. Possibly sometimes understood as more often than zero (see nought and naught), especially in reference to scales or gauges where mark zero represents the midpoint of measurement or frequency.

Across languages

Translations

11 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 通常 (tōngcháng) — more likely to be the case than not
  • Chinese Mandarin: 大多 (dàduō) — more likely to be the case than not
  • Dutch: veelal — more likely to be the case than not
  • Dutch: vaker wel dan niet — more likely to be the case than not
  • Finnish: yli puolessa tapauksista — more likely to be the case than not
  • French: le plus souvent — more likely to be the case than not
  • Greek: τις περισσότερες φορές (tis perissóteres forés) — more likely to be the case than not
  • Japanese: たいてい (taitei) — more likely to be the case than not
  • Persian: اکثر اوقات٬ اکثرا٬ معمولا٬ علیالقاعده — more likely to be the case than not
  • Polish: najczęściej — more likely to be the case than not
  • Swedish: allt som oftast — more likely to be the case than not