Meanings
alternative more often than naught · alternative more often than nought
- comparative onlyidiomaticUsually; more than half the time; more likely to be the case than not to be the case.
Near-synonyms: commonly, frequently; usually; see also Thesaurus:usually
3 more examples
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 193he 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 GuardianSynonyms: most of the time, commonly, frequently, usually, as a rule, commonly, conventionally, customarily
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbUsually; more than half the time; more likely to be the case than not to be the case.
More synonyms by meaning
adverbusually; as a rule
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
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.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 通常, 大多
- 通常 (tōngcháng)more likely to be the case than not
- 大多 (dàduō)more likely to be the case than not
Dutch veelal, vaker wel dan niet
- veelalmore likely to be the case than not
- vaker wel dan nietmore likely to be the case than not
Finnish yli puolessa tapauksista
- yli puolessa tapauksistamore likely to be the case than not
French le plus souvent
- le plus souventmore likely to be the case than not
Greek τις περισσότερες φορές
- τις περισσότερες φορές (tis perissóteres forés)more likely to be the case than not
Japanese たいてい
- たいてい (taitei)more likely to be the case than not
Persian اکثر اوقات٬ اکثرا٬ معمولا٬ علیالقاعده
- اکثر اوقات٬ اکثرا٬ معمولا٬ علیالقاعدهmore likely to be the case than not
Polish najczęściej
- najczęściejmore likely to be the case than not
Swedish allt som oftast
- allt som oftastmore likely to be the case than not
Cite this entry
more often than not. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/more%20often%20than%20not
“more often than not.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/more%20often%20than%20not. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “more often than not,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/more%20often%20than%20not.
Source: more often than not on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.