adj
Meaning 1
Former; sometime.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
sometimes
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
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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sŭmʹtīmz
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/ˈsʌm.taɪmz/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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CMU ARPABET: S AH0 M T AY1 M Z Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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CMU ARPABET 2: S AH1 M T AY2 M Z Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adv
Meaning 2
On some occasions, over some periods, or in certain circumstances, but not always.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Examples
- Sometimes I sit and think, but mostly I just sit.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: at one time or another, at times, every so often, from time to time, occasionally, once in a while, ever and anon, every once in a while, every now and then, intermittently, irregularly, now and again, now and then, on occasion, sometimes, sporadically, uncommonly, while, whilom
Antonyms: none provided
adv
Meaning 3
On a certain occasion in the past; once.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: at one time, in the past, sometime, afore, aforehand, already, antecedently, before, beforehand, beforetime, ere, erenow, erewhile, erstwhile, erstwhiles, foretime, formerly, in advance, late, once, precedently, previously, sometimes, therebefore, while, whilere, whilom, yestertide, yestertime, yet
Antonyms: none provided
adverb
Meaning 4
on certain occasions or in certain cases but not always
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- sometimes she wished she were back in England
- sometimes her photography is breathtaking
- sometimes they come for a month; at other times for six months
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Middle English sumtymes, somtymes, som tymes, equivalent to sometime + -s (adverbial suffix). Compare West Frisian somstiden (“sometimes”), Dutch somtijds, somwijlen (“sometimes”).
Across languages
Translations
196 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Afrikaans: soms — on certain occasions, but not always
- Afrikaans: partykeer — on certain occasions, but not always
- Albanian: ndonjëherë — on certain occasions, but not always
- Arabic: أَحْيَانًا (ʔaḥyānan) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Arabic: سَاعَات (sāʕēt) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Arabic: أَوْقات (awʔāt) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Arabic: أحيانا (ʔaḥyānan) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Arabic: بعض المرات (baʕḍ el-marrāt) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Arabic: شي مرات (šī marrāt) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Arabic: شي خطرات (šī ḵaṭrāt) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Arabic: نوبة نوبة (nūba nūba) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Arabic: أَوْقات (awʔāt) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Arabic: أحيانا (ʔaḥyēnan) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Arabic: مرّات (marrāt) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Arabic: أحيانا (ʔaḥyānan) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Tunisian Arabic: بعض ساعات (baʕḍ sāʕāt) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Armenian: երբեմն (erbemn) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Azerbaijani: bəzən — on certain occasions, but not always
- Azerbaijani: arabir — on certain occasions, but not always
- Azerbaijani: arada — on certain occasions, but not always
- Azerbaijani: hərdən — on certain occasions, but not always
- Basque: batzuetan — on certain occasions, but not always
- Belarusian: ча́сам (čásam) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Bengali: কখনো সখনো (kokhonō śokhonō) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Bulgarian: поня́кога (ponjákoga) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Burmese: တစ်ခါတစ်ခါ (tachkatachka) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Burmese: ရံဖန်ရံခါ (ramhpanramhka) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Catalan: a vegades — on certain occasions, but not always
- Catalan: de vegades — on certain occasions, but not always
- Cebuano: usahay — on certain occasions, but not always
- Chinese Cantonese: 有時 /有时 (jau5 si4) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Chinese: 有時 /有时 (ū-sî) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Chinese: 有時陣 /有时阵 (zh-min-nan) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Chinese Mandarin: 有時 /有时 (yǒushí) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Chinese Mandarin: 有時候 /有时候 (yǒushíhou) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Cornish: treweythyow — on certain occasions, but not always
- Czech: někdy — on certain occasions, but not always
- Czech: občas — on certain occasions, but not always
- Dakota: tuktentu — on certain occasions, but not always
- Danish: somme tider — on certain occasions, but not always
- Danish: af og til — on certain occasions, but not always
- Danish: undertiden — on certain occasions, but not always
- Danish: stundom — on certain occasions, but not always
- Danish: indimellem — on certain occasions, but not always
- Dutch: soms — on certain occasions, but not always
- Dutch: somtijds — on certain occasions, but not always
- Dutch: somwijlen — on certain occasions, but not always
- Dutch: weleens — on certain occasions, but not always
- Esperanto: fojfoje — on certain occasions, but not always
- Esperanto: kelkfoje — on certain occasions, but not always
- Esperanto: iafoje — on certain occasions, but not always
- Esperanto: iufoje — on certain occasions, but not always
- Esperanto: foje — on certain occasions, but not always
- Estonian: vahel — on certain occasions, but not always
- Finnish: joskus — on certain occasions, but not always
- Finnish: toisinaan — on certain occasions, but not always
- French: parfois — on certain occasions, but not always
- French: quelquefois — on certain occasions, but not always
- French: des fois — on certain occasions, but not always
- French: tantôt — on certain occasions, but not always
- Middle French: aulcunesfoys — on certain occasions, but not always
- Galician: ás veces — on certain occasions, but not always
- Galician: ás vegadas — on certain occasions, but not always
- Georgian: ზოგჯერ (zogǯer) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Georgian: ხანდახან (xandaxan) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Georgian: დროგამოშვებით (drogamošvebit) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Georgian: დროდადრო (drodadro) — on certain occasions, but not always
- German: manchmal — on certain occasions, but not always
- German: mängist — on certain occasions, but not always
- German: mängmaal — on certain occasions, but not always
- Greek: ενίοτε (eníote) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Greek: μερικές φορές (merikés forés) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Greek: καμιά φορά (kamiá forá) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Ancient Greek: ἐνίοτε (eníote) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Haitian Creole: pafwa — on certain occasions, but not always
- Hausa: wani lokaci — on certain occasions, but not always
- Hawaiian: kekahi manawa — on certain occasions, but not always
- Hebrew: לפעמים (lif'amim) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Hebrew: לְעִתִּים (le'itím) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Hindi: कभी कभी (kabhī kabhī) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Hindi: कभी (kabhī) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Hungarian: néha — on certain occasions, but not always
- Hungarian: olykor — on certain occasions, but not always
- Icelandic: stundum — on certain occasions, but not always
- Icelandic: af og til — on certain occasions, but not always
- Ido: kelkafoye — on certain occasions, but not always
- Indonesian: kadang — on certain occasions, but not always
- Ingrian: välin — on certain occasions, but not always
- Interlingua: alicun vices, alcun veces, interdum — on certain occasions, but not always
- Irish: uaireanta — on certain occasions, but not always
- Irish: amanna — on certain occasions, but not always
- Irish: scaití — on certain occasions, but not always
- Italian: qualche volta — on certain occasions, but not always
- Italian: talvolta — on certain occasions, but not always
- Italian: a volte — on certain occasions, but not always
- Japanese: 時時 — on certain occasions, but not always
- Japanese: 時々 (tokidoki) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Japanese: まま (mama) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Javanese: kadhangkala — on certain occasions, but not always
- Kabuverdianu: asbês — on certain occasions, but not always
- Kazakh: кейде (keide) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Khmer: ជួនកាល (jooəngaal) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Korean: 때때로 (ttaettaero) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Korean: 자주 (jaju) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Korean: 가끔씩은 (gakkeumssigeun) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Central Kurdish: جارجار (carcar) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Central Kurdish: جاروبار (carubar) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Laki: گاجار (gacar) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Northern Kurdish: carina — on certain occasions, but not always
- Southern Kurdish: جارجار (carcar) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Southern Kurdish: گاجار (gacar) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Lao: ບາງເທື່ອ (bāng thư̄a) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Latin: aliquandō — on certain occasions, but not always
- Latin: interdum — on certain occasions, but not always
- Latin: nonnunquam — on certain occasions, but not always
- Latvian: dažreiz — on certain occasions, but not always
- Lithuanian: kartais — on certain occasions, but not always
- Low German: somtyds — on certain occasions, but not always
- Low German: manchmal — on certain occasions, but not always
- Macedonian: понекогаш (ponekogaš) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Macedonian: некогаш (nekogaš) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Malay: kadang-kadang — on certain occasions, but not always
- Malayalam: ചിലപ്പോഴൊക്കെ (cilappōḻokke) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Mongolian: үе үе (üje üje) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Norman: parfeis — on certain occasions, but not always
- Norwegian: stundom — on certain occasions, but not always
- Norwegian: av og til — on certain occasions, but not always
- Norwegian: tidvis — on certain occasions, but not always
- Ojibwe: naningodinong — on certain occasions, but not always
- Ojibwe: aangodinong — on certain occasions, but not always
- Old English: hwīlum — on certain occasions, but not always
- Persian: بعضیوقتها (ba'zi-vaqt-hâ) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Persian: گاهی (gâhi) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Plautdietsch: eenjemol — on certain occasions, but not always
- Polish: czasem — on certain occasions, but not always
- Polish: niekiedy — on certain occasions, but not always
- Polish: czasami — on certain occasions, but not always
- Polish: od czasu do czasu — on certain occasions, but not always
- Portuguese: às vezes — on certain occasions, but not always
- Punjabi: ਕਦੀ (kadī) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Punjabi: ਕਦੇ ਕਦੇ (kade kade) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Romanian: uneori — on certain occasions, but not always
- Romanian: câteodată — on certain occasions, but not always
- Romanian: ocazional — on certain occasions, but not always
- Russian: иногда́ (inogdá) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Russian: времена́ми (vremenámi) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Russian: поро́й (porój) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Russian: подча́с (podčás) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Sanskrit: कदापि (kadāpi) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Scots: whiles — on certain occasions, but not always
- Scottish Gaelic: uaireannan — on certain occasions, but not always
- Scottish Gaelic: corra uair — on certain occasions, but not always
- Serbo-Croatian: по̀некад — on certain occasions, but not always
- Serbo-Croatian: ка̀ткад — on certain occasions, but not always
- Serbo-Croatian: pònekad — on certain occasions, but not always
- Serbo-Croatian: kàtkad — on certain occasions, but not always
- Slovak: niekedy — on certain occasions, but not always
- Slovene: včásih — on certain occasions, but not always
- Lower Sorbian: wótergi — on certain occasions, but not always
- Spanish: a veces — on certain occasions, but not always
- Spanish: algunas veces — on certain occasions, but not always
- Spanish: a las [de] veces — on certain occasions, but not always
- Spanish: a la de veces — on certain occasions, but not always
- Spanish: de vez en cuando — on certain occasions, but not always
- Swahili: pengine — on certain occasions, but not always
- Swedish: ibland — on certain occasions, but not always
- Swedish: stundom — on certain occasions, but not always
- Swedish: då och då — on certain occasions, but not always
- Swedish: emellanåt — on certain occasions, but not always
- Swedish: av och till — on certain occasions, but not always
- Swedish: till och från — on certain occasions, but not always
- Tagalog: minsan — on certain occasions, but not always
- Telugu: అప్పుడప్పుడు (appuḍappuḍu) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Thai: บางที (baang-tii) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Thai: บางครั้ง (baang-kráng) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Turkish: bazen — on certain occasions, but not always
- Turkish: ara sıra — on certain occasions, but not always
- Ukrainian: де́коли (dékoly) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Ukrainian: іноді́ (inodí) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Ukrainian: ча́сом (čásom) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Ukrainian: і́нколи (ínkoly) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Urdu: کبھی کبھی (kabhī kabhī) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Urdu: کبھی (kabhī) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Urdu: گاہے (gāhe) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Urdu: گاہے گاہے (gāhe-gāhe) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Urdu: کبھی کبھار (kabhī-kabhār) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Urdu: گاہے ماہے (gāhe-māhe) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Urdu: بعض اوقات (bāz-auqāt) — on certain occasions, but not always
- Uzbek: baʼzan — on certain occasions, but not always
- Vietnamese: thỉnh thoảng — on certain occasions, but not always
- Walloon: tenawete — on certain occasions, but not always
- Walloon: tinzintins — on certain occasions, but not always
- Walloon: pacô — on certain occasions, but not always
- Walloon: padecô — on certain occasions, but not always
- Welsh: weithiau — on certain occasions, but not always
- Zazaki: ge-gane — on certain occasions, but not always
Real reading context