Meaning & use
intermittent
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Meaning
adjectivenot comparable
Starting and stopping again and again, with gaps in between, instead of going on without a break.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after a linking verb: intermittent rain, or the signal was intermittent.
Patterns
- intermittent noise
- intermittent problems
We had intermittent rain all afternoon, so the picnic kept stopping and starting.
The weak signal made our video call intermittent.
He suffered intermittent back pain for several months.
Common combinations
- intermittent rain
- Intermittent rain slowed the second half of the game.
- intermittent fasting
- She tried intermittent fasting, eating only between noon and eight.
- intermittent problems
- The phone has had intermittent problems since the update.
- intermittent contact
- We kept in intermittent contact after he moved abroad.
- intermittent signal
- An intermittent signal made the map freeze on and off.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sporadic
- Sporadic means happening at scattered, unpredictable times and often suggests rarity, while intermittent suggests a stop-and-start pattern.
- occasional
- Occasional means now and then and says nothing about stopping and starting, so it is looser than intermittent.
- periodic
- Periodic means happening at regular intervals, whereas intermittent can be irregular.
- on-and-off
- On-and-off is an informal way of saying intermittent and is more common in speech.
Opposites
Word family
- intermittently adverb
- in a way that stops and starts
- intermittency noun
- the quality of starting and stopping, often used in science
- intermission noun
- a break between parts of a show
Commonly confused: intermittent or intermediate?
intermittent vs intermediate
Intermediate means in the middle, as in an intermediate level, while intermittent means happening in stops and starts.
Practice
Which situation is best described as intermittent?
Choose one answer.
Intermittent describes something that keeps stopping and starting, like a flickering light. The other options are constant or unchanging, which would be continuous or steady.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “intermittent”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.