Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
more often than not. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
more often than not, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
more often than not in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
more often than not you have here. The definition of the word
more often than not will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
more often than not, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Origin obscure. Perhaps an ellipsis of more often than not , although this doesn't appear to be very well supported in writing. Alternatively, possibly meaning 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.
Pronunciation
Adverb
more often than not (not comparable)
- (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.
1962 September, Warren Smith, “The problems of coaching stock rostering and operation”, in Modern Railways, page 193: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.
2020 September 1, Tom Lamont, “The butcher's shop that lasted 300 years (give or take)”, in The Guardian: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.
Synonyms
Translations
more likely to be the case than not