often

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often

/ˈɒfən/ Australia, UK
/ˈɒftən/ Australia, UK
/ˈɔː-/ Australia, UK, East Anglia
/ˈɔfən/ British, Scotland, Southern
/ˈɔftən/ British, Scotland, Southern
/ˈɒfən/ New Zealand
/ˈɒftən/ New Zealand
[ˈɔ̟fən] New Zealand
[ˈɔ̟ftən] New Zealand
/ˈɔfən/ Canada, US
/ˈɔftən/ Canada, US
/ˈɑfən/ Canada, US, cot caught merger
/ˈɑftən/ Canada, US, cot caught merger
/ˈɒ-/ Canada, US, cot caught merger

Sounds like orphan (non-rhotic, lot–cloth split) · Rhymes with -ɒfən

Where it comes from

From Middle English often, alteration (with final -n added due to analogy with Middle English selden (“seldom”)) of Middle English ofte, oft, from Old English oft (“often”), from Proto-Germanic *ufta, *uftō (“often”).

Cognates

Cognate with Scots affen, aften, af'en, oaffen, oaften, oftin (“often”), North Frisian aaft, oftem, oofting (“often”), Saterland Frisian oafte (“often”), German, Luxembourgish and Pennsylvania German oft (“often”), Yiddish אָפֿט (oft, “often”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk ofte (“often”), Faroese, Swedish ofta (“often”), Icelandic oft (“often”), Gothic 𐌿𐍆𐍄𐌰 (ufta, “often”).

adverb more often · oftener · most often · oftenest

Frequently; many times on different occasions. I often walk to work when the weather is nice.
Similar: a lot, oftentimes, typically, feelefold, frequently, manifold, manyfold, oft, often, oftenly, ofttimes, repeatedly · Opposite: infrequently, occasionally, rarely, seldom, unoften, scarcely, seldomly, uncommonly

Opposite: rarely, forever, occasionally, never, once

adjective more often · most often

archaic Frequent. […] it is a melancholy of mine own, compounded of many simples, extracted from many objects, and, indeed, the sundry contemplation of my travels; in which my often rumination wraps me in a most humorous sadness.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: ofttimes, oft, oftentimes, frequently, much, regularly, frequent, sometimes, usually, how, always, commonly, almost, normally, mostly, rarely

adverb

Opposite: rarely, forever, occasionally, never, once

Translations

Every language

adv frequently, many times

Español	a menudo, seguido, soler, acostumbrar (a)
한국어	수시로 susiro, 자주 jaju, 흔히 heunhi
日本語	よく yoku, 度々 tabitabi, 頻繁に hinpan-ni, しばしば shibashiba
中文	經常 /经常 jīngcháng, 常常 chángcháng, 時常 /时常 shícháng, 往往 wǎngwǎng
हिन्दी	प्रायः prāyaḥ, अक्सर aksar
Kiswahili	mara nyingi
Português	frequentemente, seguido, amiúde
Français	souvent, souventefois
Deutsch	häufig, oft
Italiano	spesso, sovente
Ελληνικά	συχνά sychná
Română	des
Русский	ча́сто částo, зачасту́ю začastúju, часте́нько časténʹko
Tiếng Việt	thường, hay, luôn, thường hay
العربية	كَثِيرًا kaṯīran, غَالِبًا ḡāliban, كَثِيرًا مَا kaṯīran mā, غَالِبًا مَا ḡāliban mā, طَالَمَا ṭālamā
עברית	לְעִתִּים קְרוֹבוֹת l'itím k'rovót

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MLA

"often." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/often. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

often. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/often

Chicago

"often." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/often.

BibTeX

@misc{often_2026,
  title = {often},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/often},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}