Dictionary

more often than not en · ADV

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

Origin obscure. Semantically equivalent to, and often understood as, an ellipsis of more often than not so. Possibly sometimes understood as more often than zero (see nought and naught), especially in reference to scales or gauges where mark zero represents the midpoint of measurement or frequency.

Meanings

1. (comparative-only, idiomatic) Usually; more than half the time; more likely to be the case than not to be the case.
   • More often than not, tomato seeds will sprout even if they are a couple of years old.
   • Regular passengers become familiar with their train and attempts to change its make-up or any other aspect of its working are more often than not frowned upon, even though the change is probably for the better. 1962 September, Warren Smith, “The problems of coaching stock rostering and operation”, in Modern Railways, page 193:
   • he would gather his courage and set out between the columned arches to ask one of the unaccompanied women to partner him. More often than not, their answer was no. 2020 September 1, Tom Lamont, “The butcher's shop that lasted 300 years (give or take)”, in The Guardian:
   • Near-synonyms: commonly, frequently; usually; see also Thesaurus:usually

Forms

Coordinates

as often as not

Synonyms

oftest · as a rule · customarily · habitually · usually · commonly · nine times out of ten · typically · usually · in general · normally · ordinarily · most of the time · frequently · predominantly · most of the time · conventionally · generally · commonly · principally

Translations (11)

fa اکثر اوقات٬ اکثرا٬ معمولا٬ علیالقاعده (more likely to be the case than not) · ja たいてい (more likely to be the case than not) · cmn 大多 (more likely to be the case than not) · pl najczęściej (more likely to be the case than not) · sv allt som oftast (more likely to be the case than not) · fi yli puolessa tapauksista (more likely to be the case than not) · cmn 通常 (more likely to be the case than not) · nl vaker wel dan niet (more likely to be the case than not) · el τις περισσότερες φορές (more likely to be the case than not) · nl veelal (more likely to be the case than not) · fr le plus souvent (more likely to be the case than not)