sooner or later

adverb

Eventually, at some undetermined time in the not-too-distant future.

“He’ll turn up sooner or later.”

Similar
one dayone of these dayssome daysomeday
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Meanings

adverbsooner or later (not comparable)
  1. not comparableset phraseEventually, at some undetermined time in the not-too-distant future.

    He’ll turn up sooner or later.

    1 more example

    Sooner or later / You hit the deck, you get found out / Save it for later / Don't run away and let me down

    1982, The English Beat, “Save It for Later”, in Special Beat Service

    Synonyms: one day, one of these days, some day, someday

Synonyms & antonyms

adverbEventually, at some undetermined time in the not-too-distant future.

Similar
one dayone of these dayssome daysomeday
Also see
at lastat lengthby and byeventuallyone daysomedayyet

Translations

Arabic عَاجِلاً أَم آجِلاً, عَاجِلاً أَو آجِلاً
  • عَاجِلاً أَم آجِلاً (ʕājilan ʔam ʔājilan)set phrase; eventually
  • عَاجِلاً أَو آجِلاً (ʕājilan ʔaw ʔājilan)set phrase; eventually
  • فِي نِهَايَةِ الْمَطَافِ (fī nihāyati l-maṭāfi)set phrase; eventually
Catalan tard o d'hora
  • tard o d'horaset phrase; eventually
Chinese Cantonese 遲早 /迟早
  • 遲早 /迟早 (ci⁴ zou²)set phrase; eventually
Chinese Mandarin 遲早 /迟早, 早晚
  • 遲早 /迟早 (chízǎo)set phrase; eventually
  • 早晚 (zǎowǎn)set phrase; eventually
Czech dříve nebo později, dříve či později
  • dříve nebo pozdějiset phrase; eventually
  • dříve či pozdějiset phrase; eventually
Danish før eller senere, før eller siden
  • før eller senereset phrase; eventually
  • før eller sidenset phrase; eventually
Dutch vroeg of laat
  • vroeg of laatset phrase; eventually
Estonian varem või hiljem
  • varem või hiljemset phrase; eventually
Finnish ennemmin tai myöhemmin
  • ennemmin tai myöhemminset phrase; eventually
French tôt ou tard, à un moment ou à un autre
  • tôt ou tardset phrase; eventually
  • à un moment ou à un autreset phrase; eventually
German früher oder später
  • früher oder späterset phrase; eventually
Greek αργά ή γρήγορα
  • αργά ή γρήγορα (argá í grígora)set phrase; eventually
Hungarian előbb vagy utóbb, előbb-utóbb
  • előbb vagy utóbbset phrase; eventually
  • előbb-utóbbset phrase; eventually
Italian prima o poi, presto o tardi
  • prima o poiset phrase; eventually
  • presto o tardiset phrase; eventually
Japanese 遅かれ早かれ, 早晩
  • 遅かれ早かれ (osokare-hayakare)set phrase; eventually
  • 早晩 (sōban)set phrase; eventually
Korean 조만간
  • 조만간 (joman'gan)set phrase; eventually
Latin serius aut citius, serius ocius
  • serius aut citiusset phrase; eventually
  • serius ociusset phrase; eventually
Latvian agrāk vai vēlāk
  • agrāk vai vēlākset phrase; eventually
Lithuanian anksčiau ar vėliau
  • anksčiau ar vėliauset phrase; eventually
Norwegian Bokmål før eller senere, før eller seinere
  • før eller senereset phrase; eventually
  • før eller seinereset phrase; eventually
  • før eller sidenset phrase; eventually
Polish prędzej czy później
  • prędzej czy późniejset phrase; eventually
Portuguese mais cedo ou mais tarde
  • mais cedo ou mais tardeset phrase; eventually
Romanian mai devreme sau mai târziu, odată și-odată
  • mai devreme sau mai târziuset phrase; eventually
  • odată și-odatăset phrase; eventually
Russian ра́но и́ли по́здно
  • ра́но и́ли по́здно (ráno íli pózdno)set phrase; eventually
Scottish Gaelic luath no mall
  • luath no mallset phrase; eventually
Spanish tarde o temprano, a la corta o a la larga
  • tarde o tempranoset phrase; eventually
  • a la corta o a la largaset phrase; eventually
  • más tarde o más tempranoset phrase; eventually
  • más pronto o más tardeset phrase; eventually
Swedish förr eller senare, så småningom
  • förr eller senareset phrase; eventually
  • så småningomset phrase; eventually
Thai ไม่ช้าก็เร็ว
  • ไม่ช้าก็เร็วset phrase; eventually
Turkish eninde sonunda, er ya da geç
  • eninde sonundaset phrase; eventually
  • er ya da geçset phrase; eventually
  • er geçset phrase; eventually
Ukrainian ра́но чи пі́зно
  • ра́но чи пі́зно (ráno čy pízno)set phrase; eventually
Vietnamese sớm muộn, trước sau
  • sớm muộnset phrase; eventually
  • trước sauset phrase; eventually
  • chẳng chóng thì chầyset phrase; eventually
Welsh yn hwyr neu'n hwyrach
  • yn hwyr neu'n hwyrachset phrase; eventually
Cite this entry
APA

sooner or later. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sooner%20or%20later

MLA

“sooner or later.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sooner%20or%20later. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sooner or later,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sooner%20or%20later.

Source: sooner or later on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.