Once-off or one-off?
once-off is an adjective meaning “Alternative form of one-off”; one-off is an adjective meaning “Occurring once, independent of any pattern; one-time”.
What is the difference between once-off and one-off?
| once-off | one-off | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective, noun | adjective, noun |
| Meaning | Alternative form of one-off | Occurring once, independent of any pattern; one-time Special; remarkable; rare; unusual CommonwealthSomething that is done, created, etc. only once, and often quickly, simply, or improvisationally |
| Example | a once-off payment | The government insisted that the embarrassing loss of the tax records was a one-off event |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | not recorded |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | not counted (the list counts single words) |
Sources: once-off and one-off in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of once-off and one-off
once-off
- 1
Alternative form of one-off
a once-off payment
- 2
Alternative form of one-off
one-off
- 1
Occurring once, independent of any pattern; one-time
The government insisted that the embarrassing loss of the tax records was a one-off event
- 2
CommonwealthSomething that is done, created, etc. only once, and often quickly, simply, or improvisationally
Near-synonym: stand-alone
- 3
Special; remarkable; rare; unusual
- 4
Something unique and remarkable
Near-synonym: stand-alone
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.