Meanings
alternative adverb some time · alternative adjective some-time · alternative obsolete sometyme
- not comparableAt an indefinite but stated time in the past or future.
It happened sometime yesterday.
3 more examples
I'll see you at the pub sometime this evening.
This will certainly happen sometime in the future.
But while there remains a considerable degree of consensus that the consequence of apparently losing the plot sometime between 1914 and 1918 was the cultural and economic malaise of the 1920s and 1930s, there are still some who look back on the interwar years less with criticism than with nostalgia.
1995, John Frank Williams, The Quarantined Culture: Australian Reactions to Modernism, 1913–1939, page 219Synonyms: at some point, at one time
- not comparableobsoleteSometimes.
- not comparableobsoleteAt an unstated past or future time; once; formerly.
Did they not sometime cry "All hail" to me?
1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]
alternative adverb some time · alternative adjective some-time · alternative obsolete sometyme
- not comparableFormer, erstwhile; at some previous time.
my sometime friend and mentor
2 more examples
Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen / Th' imperial jointress to this warlike state
c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]Ion our sometime darling, whom we prized / As a stray gift, by bounteous Heaven dismiss'd
1832, Thomas Noon Talfourd, Ion: A Tragedy, in Five Acts
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbAt an indefinite but stated time in the past or future.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishsomtyme
- Englishsometime
From Middle English somtyme, som time, some tyme, sume time, sumtym, sumtyme, equivalent to some + time.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian ня́кога, бивш
- ня́кога (njákoga)at an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
- бивш (bivš)former
- някогашен (njakogašen)former
Chinese Mandarin 日後 /日后, 某時 /某时
- 日後 /日后 (rìhòu)at an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
- 某時 /某时 (mǒushí)at an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
- 下次 (xiàcì)at an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
Czech někdy
- někdyat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
Dutch ooit
- ooitat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
Esperanto iam
- iamat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
Finnish joskus, johonkin aikaan
- joskusat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
- johonkin aikaanat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
- jonakin päivänäat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
- entinenformer
French un jour ou l’autre
- un jour ou l’autreat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
German irgendwann, eines Tages
- irgendwannat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
- eines Tagesat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
Greek κάποτε, πρώην
- κάποτε (kápote)at an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
- πρώην (próin)former
- αλλοτινός (allotinós)former
Hebrew מתישהו
- מתישהו (matayshehu)at an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
Hungarian valamikor, hajdani
- valamikorat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
- hajdaniformer
- egykoriformer
- valamikoriformer
Icelandic einhvern tíma
- einhvern tímaat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
Irish am éigin
- am éiginat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
Italian un giorno o l'altro
- un giorno o l'altroat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
Japanese いつか
- いつか (itsuka)at an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
Korean 언젠가
- 언젠가 (eonjen'ga)at an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
Latin aliquandō
- aliquandōat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
Latvian kaut kad, bijušais
- kaut kadat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
- bijušaisformer
- kādreizējaisformer
Norwegian Bokmål en eller annen gang, på et eller annet tidspunkt
- en eller annen gangat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
- på et eller annet tidspunktat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
- før eller senereat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
Polish kiedyś
- kiedyśat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
Portuguese algum dia, antigo
- algum diaat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
- antigoformer
Romanian cândva, fost
- cândvaat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
- fostformer
- ex-former
- anteriorformer
Russian когда́-то, когда́-нибудь
- когда́-то (kogdá-to)at an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
- когда́-нибудь (kogdá-nibudʹ)at an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
- бы́вший (bývšij)former
- пре́жний (préžnij)former
Scottish Gaelic uaireigin
- uaireiginat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
Slovak niekedy
- niekedyat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
Spanish al rato, algún día
- al ratoat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
- algún díaat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
- en algún momentoat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
Swedish någon gång
- någon gångat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
Ukrainian коли́сь, коли́-небудь
- коли́сь (kolýsʹ)at an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
- коли́-небудь (kolý-nebudʹ)at an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
Welsh rhywbryd
- rhywbrydat an indefinite but stated time in the past or future
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
sometime. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sometime
“sometime.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sometime. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sometime,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sometime.
Source: sometime on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.