off and on

Thân thiện

They meet for coffee off and on.

Definition

Adverb: In an intermittent or irregular manner; occurring or happening occasionally, with breaks in between, rather than continuously or on a regular schedule.

Usage

The phrase "off and on" describes an action or state that starts, stops, and starts again over a period of time. It emphasizes the sporadic, non-continuous nature of an activity.

Examples

• It rained off and on throughout the day, so we had to keep going in and out of the house.
• I've studied Spanish off and on for years, but I'm not fluent because I never practice consistently.
• They have been dating off and on since high school, but they can never seem to make it work for long.

Advanced Usage

• "Off and on" can sometimes be written with hyphens when used as a compound modifier before a noun.
  • They've had an off-and-on relationship for a decade.

Variants and Related Words

• On and off: This is a perfectly interchangeable variant with the same meaning.
  • He has worked here on and off for five years.

Synonyms

• Intermittently
• Sporadically
• Periodically
• Fitfully

Antonyms

• Continuously
• Constantly
• Steadily
• Regularly

Học thuật

Adverb

1. not regularly
   • they phone each other off and on

Từ đồng nghĩa

• on and off