intermittently
adv.happening at different times but not in a regular or continuous way. You use this when something starts and stops repeatedly.
adv.occurring at irregular intervals; not continuous or steady.
“It rained intermittently throughout the afternoon.”
“The old radio worked only intermittently, often losing the signal just as the news began.”
“The lighthouse beam flashed intermittently through the thick fog, providing just enough guidance for the sailors to navigate the treacherous coastline.”
Typically functions as a frequency adverb placed at the end of a clause or before the main verb.
“You mean he has said some words?” said one man in his 60s who has been sleeping intermittently in a tent in front of a furniture shop for several years.”
“The orchestra responds intermittently, but the right angles and sharp points of Stravinsky’s score are an unforgiving architecture, and too many chords and rhythms smudge or sag.”
From intermittent + -ly.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.