often

  • 1often — often, frequently, oft, oftentimes may be used with little or no distinction to mean again and again in more or less close succession. But often stresses the number of times a thing occurs, without regard to the interval of recurrence; frequently …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 2Often — Of ten, a. Frequent; common; repeated. [R.] Thine often infirmities. 1 Tim. v. 23. [1913 Webster] And weary thee with often welcomes. Beau. & Fl. [1913 Webster] …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 3often — In current English this is more usually pronounced with the t silent. The comparative forms oftener and oftenest are permissible, although more often and most often are more commonly used …

    Modern English usage

  • 4Often — Of ten ([o^]f n; 115), adv. [Compar. {Oftener} ([o^]f n*[ e]r); superl. {Oftenest}.] [Formerly also ofte, fr. oft. See {Oft}., adv.] Frequently; many times; not seldom. [1913 Webster] …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 5often — index chronic Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …

    Law dictionary

  • 6often — (adv.) c.1300, extended form of OFT (Cf. oft), originally before vowels and h , probably by influence of M.E. selden seldom. In common use from 16c., replacing oft …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 7often — [adv] frequently again and again, a number of times, generally, many a time, much, oftentimes, ofttimes, over and over, recurrently, regularly, repeatedly, time after time, time and again, usually; concept 541 Ant. infrequently, rarely, seldom …

    New thesaurus

  • 8often — of|ten W1S1 [ˈɔfən, ˈɔftən US ˈo:f ] adv [Date: 1200 1300; Origin: oft] 1.) if something happens often, it happens regularly or many times = ↑frequently ▪ She often works at the weekend. ▪ If you wash your hair too often, it can get too dry. ▪… …

    Dictionary of contemporary English

  • 9often — of|ten [ ɔfn ] adverb *** 1. ) on many occasions or in many situations: Often, students with family problems have difficulties at school. Boredom often leads to bad behavior. The home is often the most likely place in which someone is injured.… …

    Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • 10often — adverb 1 if something happens often, or you do something often, it happens regularly or many times: Rosi often works till 7 or 8 o clock in the evening. | If you wash your hair too often, it tends to make it greasy. | how often?: How often do you …

    Longman dictionary of contemporary English