intermittently
Americanadverb
-
at occasional or uneven intervals.
This species of flounder spawns mainly during the summer and early fall, but may spawn intermittently throughout the year.
In this parched landscape, water flows intermittently, with lakes and streams forming in the wet season and disappearing in the dry season.
Other Word Forms
- nonintermittently adverb
- unintermittently adverb
Etymology
Origin of intermittently
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Our study suggests using them intermittently, then activating suction at intervals, might be better. That's because mosquitoes don't tend to stick around their target when both clues aren't used at the same time."
From Science Daily • Mar. 22, 2026
According MarineTraffic data analysed by AFP on Friday, only nine commercial ships -- tankers, cargo vessels and container ships -- had been detected crossing the strait since Monday, with some intermittently masking their position.
From Barron's • Mar. 8, 2026
As children, Mrie and her sister, Alia, were obliged to plead with their father for money, which he supplied only intermittently.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2026
Despite the presence of mild frost on the part of Mira, whose face intermittently flickers with anxiety, disorientation and more deeply buried feelings, she and Beckett have accepted Edgar’s invitation to stop by.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026
They were intermittently abundant in the sprawling camp, which used few pesticides, relied on human waste as fertilizer, and supplied no water for cleaning privies or taking baths.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.