often - Definition from Longman English Dictionary Online

Date:	1200-1300
Origin:	oft

often
adverb

of‧ten S1 W1 See pronunciation table in "How to use dictionary" pages

1 if something happens often, it happens regularly or many times [= frequently]:

She often works at the weekend.

If you wash your hair too often, it can get too dry.

How often do you see your parents?

quite/very often

I quite often go to Paris on business.

Robin is a difficult child; you've said so yourself often enough (=a lot of times).

it is not often (that)

It's not often that a government minister will admit to being wrong.

2 if something happens often, it happens in many situations or cases:

It's often difficult to translate poetry.

very/quite often

Very often children who behave badly at school have problems at home.

all too often

also only too often used to say that something sad, disappointing, or annoying happens too much:

All too often doctors are too busy to explain the treatment to their patients.

This type of accident happens only too often.

sometimes:

An inspector comes round every so often to check the safety equipment.

also more often than not spoken usually:

More often than not the train is late.

Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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often adverb

oftentimes adverb