Meaning & use
fortnightly
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivebefore a nounBritish
Happening, appearing, or done once every two weeks.
Grammar: Used before a noun: a fortnightly meeting.
The committee holds a fortnightly meeting on Thursdays.
She writes a fortnightly column for the paper.
The cleaner makes a fortnightly visit to the office.
adverbnot comparableBritish
Once every two weeks.
Grammar: Comes after the verb or at the end of a clause: it is published fortnightly.
The magazine is published fortnightly.
We meet fortnightly to review progress.
Bins are collected fortnightly in our area.
nouncountableBritishold-fashioned
A magazine or newspaper that comes out every two weeks.
Grammar: Countable: a fortnightly, many fortnightlies.
He subscribes to a literary fortnightly.
The fortnightly arrived on Friday.
Several small fortnightlies covered local politics.
Word forms
| plural | fortnightlies |
|---|
Common combinations
- fortnightly meeting
- The fortnightly meeting starts at ten.
- fortnightly newsletter
- A fortnightly newsletter keeps parents informed.
- published fortnightly
- The paper is published fortnightly.
- fortnightly basis
- Staff are paid on a fortnightly basis.
- fortnightly visit
- We have a fortnightly visit from the nurse.
Synonyms and how they differ
- biweekly
- Biweekly is the American term, but it can also mean twice a week, so fortnightly is clearer.
- every two weeks
- This phrase is the plain, unambiguous way to say the same thing in any dialect.
- semimonthly
- Semimonthly means twice a month, so the gaps are not exactly fourteen days.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: fortnightly or biweekly? fortnightly or semiweekly?
fortnightly vs biweekly
Biweekly can mean either every two weeks or twice a week, so check the context.
fortnightly vs semiweekly
Semiweekly means twice a week, so it is not the same as fortnightly.
Practice
A magazine comes out on the first and third Monday of every month, roughly every two weeks. It would most clearly be called ___.
Choose one answer.
Fortnightly means once every two weeks. Weekly would mean every week, and daily and annual are far too frequent or too rare.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fortnightly”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.