one-time

or one·time

[ wuhn-tahym ]

adjective

1. having been as specified at one time; former:

   my one-time partners.

   Synonyms: past, previous

2. occurring, done, or accomplished only once:

   his one-time try at elective office.

one-time

adjective

1. prenominal at some time in the past; former

adverb

1. informal.
   at once

Word History and Origins

Origin of one-time¹

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

Voters easily chose Booker over his Republican opponent, recent Garden State transplant and one-time conservative hero Jeff Bell.

From The Daily Beast

Susli, the one-time chemistry grad student, started helping Lloyd and Postol with research into hexamine.

From The Daily Beast

The whole stack was re-evaluated—a “one-time decision,” said a memo from the advisory council, due to “extraneous circumstances.”

From The Daily Beast

She's well spoken, educated, and sober—a far cry from the one-time face of the adult world, Jenna Jameson.

From The Daily Beast

The one-time anti-bullying champion let his attorney seek to lump the victim together with the victimizer.

From The Daily Beast

As Bill looked over his oft-appraised stock, it seemed to have lost much of its one-time charm.

From Project Gutenberg

The only sensible thing to do was just to stand there within the ruins of a one-time beautiful city and look about us.

From Project Gutenberg

This is the way the one-time cricketer and football champion viewed his first ball game.

From Project Gutenberg

That is, he would do it if the police or the allies of his one-time friends did not locate him before Maggie came.

From Project Gutenberg

A whole city of merchants and agents were cloistered here in the five stories of this one-time ducal abode.

From Project Gutenberg