occasional

adjective

oc·​ca·​sion·​al ə-ˈkā-zh(ə-)nəl 

1

a

: of or relating to a particular occasion

a budget able to meet occasional demands as well as regular ones

b

: created for a particular occasion

occasional verse

occasional music

2

: acting as the occasion or contributing cause of something

occasional causes for creating apparent effects

3

: encountered, occurring, appearing, or taken at irregular or infrequent intervals

occasional visitors

an occasional vacation

found occasional errors

occasional episodes of chest pain

4

: acting in a specified capacity from time to time

an occasional lecturer

an occasional essayist

5

: designed or constructed to be used as the occasion demands

occasional furniture

Synonyms

• aperiodic
• casual
• catchy
• choppy
• discontinuous
• episodic
• episodical
• erratic
• fitful
• intermittent
• irregular
• spasmodic
• spastic
• sporadic
• spotty
• unsteady

Examples of occasional in a Sentence

She receives occasional phone calls from her mother.

There will be occasional showers during the morning.

Most mornings, we'll see deer or the occasional bear walking past our house.

He tells an occasional joke to keep his students interested.

I need to take occasional breaks from work.

Sure, I drink an occasional glass of wine from time to time.

She's an occasional lecturer at the university.

Recent Examples on the Web

Steinem has long-term plans to make her home a place where women can gather for discussion and occasional refuge. —Sarah Medford, Architectural Digest, 12 Dec. 2024

Whatever your choice, preparation and recovery are key to maintaining healthy skin while enjoying occasional drinks (or not), Dr. Kohli concludes. —Sanjana Ray, Glamour, 12 Dec. 2024

Chen has been drawing as a hobby and occasional side gig for as long as Gignac has known her and regularly posts her work to Instagram under the handle serenadrawing. —Joseph Epstein, Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2024

When looking at all of the weekly rankings in their home country, the band’s list of champions expands significantly, and due to occasional re-releases, the rockers continue to add to their historic count from time to time. —Hugh McIntyre, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English occasyonal "occurring at intervals," borrowed from Medieval Latin occāsiōnālis "opportune, incidental," from occāsiōn-, occāsiō occasion entry 1 + Latin -ālis -al entry 1

First Known Use

1611, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

occasional

adjective

oc·​ca·​sion·​al ə-ˈkāzh-nəl 

-ən-ᵊl

1

: of, relating to, or created for a particular occasion

occasional verse

2

: happening, appearing, or met with now and then

an occasional visitor