once 1 of 3

as in formerly
at an earlier or previous time I once knew the quotation, but time has taken its toll on my brain cells

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once

2 of 3

adjective

once

3 of 3

conjunction

as in when
just at the moment that you should have stopped wrestling once you knew someone was getting hurt, not five minutes later

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of once
Adverb
Jalen Hurts once again has the Eagles in prime position for a postseason run. Greg Rosenstein, NBC News, 15 Nov. 2024 Yet, at least once, maybe twice a month, they get totally wasted and the wife calls me and rambles on incoherently. Jeanne Phillips, The Mercury News, 7 Nov. 2024
Adjective
At last, the American people would positively embrace, not just passively accept, the once abstract primacist mission. Stephen Wertheim, Foreign Affairs, 17 Mar. 2023 The once caveat is that Delta 9 THC levels must be below 0.3%. Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 3 Apr. 2024 See all Example Sentences for once 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for once
Adverb
  • Earlier Tuesday, Min took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to thank and encourage his supporters.
    Hanna Kang, Orange County Register, 5 Nov. 2024
  • The other race, for an open seat in Orange County formerly held by Democrat Katie Porter, features a tight race between Democratic state Sen. Dave Min and Scott Baugh, a longtime GOP operative. 5) Who will win Silicon Valley’s coveted House seat?
    Paul Rogers, The Mercury News, 5 Nov. 2024
Adjective
  • Evans, 38, an Army veteran and former Arvada police officer, campaigned on hot-topic issues including free speech, gun rights and American security.
    Lauren Penington, The Denver Post, 10 Nov. 2024
  • When the teacher assigns a research project about a local landmark, Barret Eloise and her former friend, along with two boys, choose the scary old Rathfield Manor.
    Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 10 Nov. 2024
Adjective
  • The show skips across the decades, dramatizing the interviews an older Dolours (Maxine Peake) did for a Boston College oral history of the Troubles, which were taped with the promise that they would be released only after participants’ deaths.
    Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 19 Nov. 2024
  • By contrast, the prospect of citizenships and alliances—and perhaps conquests or crusades—structured around the opinions, beliefs, and subjective identities of ordinary people in times of peace would require a new (or very old) conception of empire.
    Henry A. Kissinger, Foreign Affairs, 18 Nov. 2024
Adjective
  • The United States has been effective thus far in deterring China from invading Taiwan but has not prevented China from undertaking other provocative actions in the South China Sea.
    Carrie A. Lee, Foreign Affairs, 19 Nov. 2024
  • Furniture, appliances, and other household items can also be donated to Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore program.
    Whizy Kim, Vox, 19 Nov. 2024
Adjective
  • While Belichick, 72, and Hudson, 24, began dating after his relationship with Holliday ended, their romance made headlines during The Roast of Tom Brady on Netflix in May, when the former Patriots quarterback poked fun at his erstwhile coach.
    Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 1 Nov. 2024
  • Carlson’s guest that night was Megyn Kelly, one of his erstwhile Fox News colleagues.
    Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 1 Nov. 2024
Adjective
  • Steel, a Seal Beach Republican seeking a third term, has shown GOP resilience in the Democratic-leaning district in past elections.
    Hanna Kang, Orange County Register, 16 Nov. 2024
  • The trust division doesn’t seem to account for any of your sister’s past mortgage payments.
    R. Eric Thomas, The Denver Post, 16 Nov. 2024
Adjective
  • This is by design; his sometime advisor Steve Bannon advocated flooding the zone with, well, excrement, so that media couldn’t keep up.
    Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 31 Oct. 2024
  • Here too the plot sends her character, the struggling actress and sometime lover of Dustin Hoffman’s cross-dressing soap star, up the river as needed.
    Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 30 Oct. 2024
Adjective
  • The Lakers’ already depleted frontcourt took another hit with their latest injury.
    Khobi Price, Orange County Register, 13 Nov. 2024
  • Adjustment Brushes One of Adobe's latest brushes is the Adjustment brush.
    PCMAG, PCMAG, 12 Nov. 2024

Thesaurus Entries Near once

Cite this Entry

“Once.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/once. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

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