Happening from time to time, not regularly or frequently
Examples:
The road was in poor condition with the occasional large hole.'I will be calm!' he said, knocking over an occasional table.She attends the meetings, making occasional comments.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Intermittent
/ˌɪntəˈmɪtənt/
Happening at irregular intervals, not continuously
Examples:
The rain was intermittent throughout the day.His health suffered due to his intermittent sleeping schedule.The city's power supply was intermittent during the storm.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Ways to tell them apart:
Remember occasional as events that happen sometimes or not regularly, like rain showers that occur every now and then.
Think of intermittent as starting, stopping, and starting again, like intermittent fasting where you eat and then stop for periods.
Use occasional for something infrequent but not necessarily following a pattern, while intermittent has some regularity and often cyclical pauses.