sooner or later

adverb

Synonyms of sooner or laternext
: at some uncertain future time : sometime

Synonyms of sooner or later

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of sooner or later in a Sentence

sooner or later, the police are going to track down the burglar
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
But its principal energy, sooner or later, will feed into transforming the political-party structures. — Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2026 Those EVs will have to compete not only with longtime sales leader Tesla, but also with the flood of Chinese EVs that, sooner or later, will land in the US. — John Voelcker, The Verge, 12 Oct. 2026 While the heat and humidity of summer haven't quite faded yet, Wisconsin residents know cold weather will arrive sooner or later. — Blaise Mesa, jsonline.com, 8 Sep. 2026 Trump will depart sooner or later, the banners will be torn down and much of his petty talk will be and should be forgotten. — Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for sooner or later

Word History

First Known Use

1577, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of sooner or later was in 1577

Rhymes for sooner or later

See All Rhymes for sooner or later

Browse Nearby Words

sooner
sooner or later
sooner rather than later
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Sooner or later.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sooner%20or%20later. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of jilt

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All