oft
- 01 C2 Proficiency
an old-fashioned word for 'often'.
a literary or archaic synonym for 'often', indicating high frequency.
Simple“The poet wrote about the oft-repeated stories of his childhood.”
In context“Though the phrase is oft-quoted in political speeches, its original context suggests a much more cynical interpretation of power.”
UsageIn modern English, this is almost exclusively used as a prefix in hyphenated compound adjectives like 'oft-repeated' or 'oft-cited'.
Synonyms
From Middle English oft (also ofte, often > Modern English often), from Old English oft (“often”), from Proto-West Germanic oftu, oftō, from Proto-Germanic *uftō (“often”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian oafte (“oft, often”), West Frisian oft, ofte (“oft, often”), Dutch oft (“oft, often”), German oft (“oft, often”). More at often.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.