ENGLISH
REFERENCE

sometime

adj.
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford US //ˈsəmˌtaɪm// UK //sˈʌmtaɪm// some·time Archaic General-service

adj. describing someone who used to do a certain job or have a certain role in the past. It can also describe someone who does something only occasionally.

adj. former or erstwhile; having been at an earlier time. Occasionally used to describe a person who performs a role or activity intermittently.


SIMPLE

The sometime actor now works as a teacher.

CONTEXTUAL

The committee invited their sometime rival to speak at the conference to provide a different perspective on the issue.

COMPLEX

A sometime contributor to the local newspaper, he spent most of his retirement tending to his garden while occasionally drafting letters to the editor regarding municipal policy.

Synonyms
Origin

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

Usage

Attributive adjective — always placed before the noun it modifies.

Pitfall

He was sometime a doctor.He was a sometime doctor.When used as an adjective meaning 'former', it must precede a noun; it cannot be used alone after a linking verb.

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