How to Use periodic in a Sentence

periodic

adjective
  • He takes the car in for periodic oil changes.
  • The woman was on her way to meet her best friend on one of their periodic trips.
    — Elizabeth Maline, NBC news, 21 Sep. 2025
  • But hey, at least these dopes get a periodic recess, right?
    — David M. Drucker, Twin Cities, 6 Jan. 2026
  • Next week looks to be cooler again, with periodic light rain chances.
    — Joseph Dames, CBS News, 1 May 2026
  • That cycle has led him to periodic bouts of burnout.
    — Heather Bushman, IndyStar, 27 Feb. 2026
  • Ash fluttered down from the sky, swirling with the periodic breezes.
    — Daniel Popper, The Athletic, 10 Jan. 2025
  • At least here, there's periodic breaks in the hurry-up-and-wait.
    — A.a. Dowd, Chron, 12 Mar. 2023
  • The group has had a great run this year, so there's nothing wrong with the periodic pullback.
    — Jeff Marks, CNBC, 13 Aug. 2025
  • Human bird flu outbreaks are periodic and, so far, small in scale.
    — David Axe, Rolling Stone, 2 Nov. 2022
  • This model worked when change was periodic, and jobs evolved slowly.
    — Nickle Lamoreaux, Fortune, 7 Apr. 2026
  • But periodic soil and water sampling by land managers could tip them off if the snakes show up.
    — Bill Kearney, Sun Sentinel, 7 Dec. 2024
  • The outputs of a periodic function, like a sine wave, repeat over and over again.
    — Lyndie Chiou, Quanta Magazine, 25 Aug. 2025
  • Plan on at least periodic showers and perhaps a steadier rain at times.
    — Washington Post, 27 Feb. 2021
  • And the mystery of the star’s periodic spikes in brightness now has an answer.
    — Robin George Andrews, New York Times, 22 July 2025
  • Some species of tree rely on periodic forest fires to release their seeds.
    — oregonlive, 10 June 2020
  • There will be periodic chances for showers and thunderstorms late in the week.
    — Kansas City Star, 4 May 2026
  • Take a periodic break to walk around, stretch and breathe while reviewing your options.
    — oregonlive, 15 June 2020
  • There were periodic speeches throughout the night among the crowd, which marched twice around the building.
    — oregonlive, 3 Oct. 2020
  • Most people choose to walk the tour but a shuttle will also make periodic stops along the route during tour hours.
    — Briana Rice, Cincinnati.com, 3 Dec. 2019
  • Drivers should expect some off-peak lane closures and periodic impacts as the project wraps up.
    — Leo Bertucci, Louisville Courier Journal, 27 Aug. 2025
  • No true gimmicks, just 18 holes of a challenge and a periodic surprise or two as well.
    — Randy McRoberts, baltimoresun.com, 23 Sep. 2020
  • This kind of abuse — and the swelling cost of cyberscams to victims around the world — has led to periodic crackdowns.
    — ABC News, 30 June 2026
  • The footage captured by the drones will be also subject to periodic audits.
    — Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 24 June 2025
  • To put this in a more formal way, every seven years would begin a new periodic cycle.
    — Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 13 Mar. 2026
  • And this lived on over the subsequent decades in periodic club-level races that bore and honored his name and his story.
    — Alex Kalinauckas, New York Times, 8 May 2026
  • But an almost-periodic function traces out a path that comes very close to repeating, yet never does.
    — Lyndie Chiou, Quanta Magazine, 25 Aug. 2025
  • The show is more of a comedy with periodic moments of action, suspense, and pathos.
    — Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 13 May 2025
  • Beyond that, periodic chances of showers and storms will continue throughout the rest of the week.
    — Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 7 July 2025
  • The idea is to keep a closer watch on patients than is possible with periodic visits to the bedside.
    — Casey Ross, STAT, 15 Aug. 2023
  • Between a tenth and a quarter of an inch of rain is predicted with periodic rain showers throughout the day.
    — Forum News Service, Twin Cities, 16 May 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'periodic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: