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sometime

UK/ˈsʌmˌtaɪm/US/ˈsʌmˌtaɪm/
adverbB12 meaningsVery common — you will meet it every day · #1,041 of 15,258neutral

Sometime means at an unstated point in time. Come round sometime, sometime next week, sometime in the spring.

It is deliberately vague, which is why sometime soon is a promise of nothing. Written as two words, some time means a quantity of time — it took some time — and the difference is real. Sometime also means former: the sometime chairman. Note sometimes, meaning occasionally, which is a third word again.

Definitions of sometime

  1. 1adverbsometimeAt an unstated point in time.B1

    “Let's meet for coffee sometime next week.”

  2. 2adverbformerFormer, before a title.C1

    “Her grandfather, a sometime sailor and fisherman, told wonderful stories.”

Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.

sometime is an indefinite time.

Where it comes from

Middle English somtyme is some plus time. Sometimes was formed from it with the adverbial -s.

  1. Middle English

    somtyme

  2. English, today

    sometime

From Middle English somtyme, som time, some tyme, sume time, sumtym, sumtyme, equivalent to some + time.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

sometime in the wild

  • The United States Treasury Department claimed his real name was Badran Turki Hishan al-Mazidi and that he was born sometime between 1977 and 1979 in Mosul.

    Abu Ghadiya

  • As a rule of thumb, the Philippines' amihan weather pattern begins sometime in mid- to late October or November and ends sometime in March or early to mid-April.

    Amihan

  • The role is well known as a management role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports.

    Sporting director

  • In 2000, he became Rwanda's Minister of Defence, and was later sometime afterwards promoted to Brigadier-General.

    Emmanuel Habyarimana

  • All Star Wrestling Vancouver, formerly NWA All Star Wrestling and sometimes referred to as NWA Vancouver, was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion, based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

    Vancouver All-Star Wrestling

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

  • sometimes