Home › Glossary › Letter O

Oft

Adverb
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Often; frequently. It is a concise literary alternative to often.

Detailed Definition
Oft is a traditional poetic adverb that allows repetition to sound reflective, musical, or habitual. A speaker may oft remember a childhood river, or a bird may oft return to the same ruined tower. The word's brevity makes it valuable in strict meter, and its slightly archaic register can lend gravity to a recurring thought. In lyric poetry, oft commonly suggests that an emotion has become familiar through repetition, whether it is joy, longing, regret, or prayer.
Example
Example in poetry:
William Wordsworth begins “I wandered lonely as a Cloud” with a speaker who later says, “For oft, when on my couch I lie,” meaning “often”; “Oft have I watched the rain erase the road” gives a lyric sentence an archaic rhythm; “The owl calls oft from the ruined barn” emphasizes repeated sound; A poet can place oft at the line opening, “Oft in silence, memory speaks,” for emphasis
Additional Notes
Oft is a compressed literary form of often that can help a poet meet metrical demands. Because it sounds archaic, it may also establish a traditional, songlike, or deliberately stylized voice.
Other Meanings of “Oft”
Also Known As
Often Oftentimes Frequently
Skip to main content