as in former
having been such at some previous time
the once child star is now a lawyer in the entertainment industry
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in when
just at the moment that
you should have stopped wrestling once you knew someone was getting hurt, not five minutes later
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example 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
Mark O’Connell, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026
The map still favors Republicans, but Trump’s declining popularity --- particularly on the economy --- makes Democrats’ once long-shot bid to retake the Senate more feasible than ever.
—Erin Cox, Washington Post, 25 Apr. 2026
Dominic Patten, Deadline, 3 Oct. 2025
The once jet-setting, Oscar-winning movie producer has remained in custody at Rikers Island jail, and has frequently been hospitalized due to health issues.
—Matt Lavietes, NBC news, 13 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for once
Adverb
Viewed from certain perspectives—the perspective of history, the perspective of the roughly one quarter of the world that was once colonized by Britain—London is a metropolis built on crime.
—Mark O’Connell, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026
The map still favors Republicans, but Trump’s declining popularity --- particularly on the economy --- makes Democrats’ once long-shot bid to retake the Senate more feasible than ever.
—Erin Cox, Washington Post, 25 Apr. 2026
Adjective
The once mogul’s Combs’ pricey defense have sought a sentence of just 14 months, with time served — which would have had Diddy out on the streets by Christmas.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 3 Oct. 2025
The once jet-setting, Oscar-winning movie producer has remained in custody at Rikers Island jail, and has frequently been hospitalized due to health issues.
—Matt Lavietes, NBC news, 13 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for once
Recent Examples of Synonyms for once
Adverb
-
Stone House is a six-story, 161-unit apartment building developed by Win, formerly known as Women in Need, with 96 units reserved for homeless families.—
Kerry Burke,
New York Daily News,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Scratch opens in Prairie Village Owner of Scratch, Tyler Morrison, abandoned his original much smaller space, to take on the one next door, formerly Story.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Two former players were deemed permanently ineligible to participate in NCAA play after the governing body found them in violation of potential game manipulation for sports betting.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
29 Apr. 2026
-
This is Anunoby’s third postseason with the Knicks, who acquired him in the December 2023 trade that sent former first-round picks RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to the Toronto Raptors.—
Peter Sblendorio,
New York Daily News,
29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Senior second baseman Alexis Richter has learned a lot about playing softball from her three older sisters.—
Tony Baranek,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Apr. 2026
-
The 73-year-old Weinstein kept his eyes trained on Mann throughout her Tuesday testimony, intermittently whispering to his attorney, Teny Geragos.—
Molly Crane-Newman,
New York Daily News,
29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The royal pair is set to spend time at the nation's capital, including a formal state dinner at the White House and an address to a joint session of Congress, before venturing to other nearby states.—
Kathryn Palmer,
USA Today,
28 Apr. 2026
-
On Saturday, Moscow pummeled the central city of Dnipro and other areas for more than twenty hours with barrages of missiles and drones, killing at least seven people.—
Sudarsan Raghavan,
New Yorker,
28 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
With input from food historian Pushpesh Pant, chef Vijay Sahi has designed three tasting menus that reimagine the culinary whims of the erstwhile royals from across India.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Her father is musician and writer David Turin, an erstwhile editor of mine some three decades ago.—
Lily Moayeri,
SPIN,
14 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The Panel brings together farmers, policymakers, and civil society to advance practical reforms and shape international policy building on the momentum of past initiatives such as the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change.—
Carlos Alvarado Quesada,
Fortune,
27 Apr. 2026
-
In years past, heavyweights like Copenhagen’s AOC, Koks from the Faroe Islands, Reykjavík’s Dill, and Portugal’s Vistas Rui Silvestre have all danced through its doors.—
Arati Menon,
Condé Nast Traveler,
27 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Serpell is also a sometime film critic for the Review, contributing considerations of Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther, Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You, Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Favourite, and a bravura essay about Émile Zola and the movie Zola.—
Namwali Serpell,
The New York Review of Books,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Schnabel — who watched the film near the front of the theater while sitting with pal Tom Waits, the musician and sometime actor who lives in Sonoma County — addressed the walkouts immediately as the post-film discussion moderated by Sundance Film Festival Director Eugene Hernandez began.—
G. Allen Johnson,
San Francisco Chronicle,
28 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Learning a lesson, this time Khan moved up from 53 to 47 using a fourth-round pick (135) and a late-round pick swap to land Alabama receiver Germie Bernard.—
Mike DeFabo,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
-
As such, there was an STS-113, which launched aboard space shuttle Endeavour in 2002, but not before having to make late crew changes due to medical issues.—
Robert Pearlman,
ArsTechnica,
27 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Once.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/once. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
