weekly
B1Neutral (used across formal, informal, and technical contexts)
Definition
Meaning
Occurring, produced, or done once every week.
Relating to a period of seven days; a publication issued every week; calculated or assessed on a weekly basis.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
The word functions primarily as an adjective and adverb. As a noun, it typically refers to a periodical publication. It denotes regular, repeated intervals rather than a singular event.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
Usage is largely identical. The primary difference is in certain compound nouns (e.g., 'weekly shop' is more common in BrE, while 'weekly groceries' or 'grocery run' might be used in AmE).
Connotations
Neutral in both varieties. In publishing contexts, it strongly connotes a magazine or newspaper.
Frequency
Very high frequency in both varieties with no significant disparity.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
[verb] + weekly (e.g., meet weekly, publish weekly)[be] + weekly + [noun] (e.g., is a weekly event)[noun] + issued/published/produced weeklyVocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Used for recurring reports, meetings, payroll (e.g., 'weekly sales figures', 'weekly team sync').
Academic
Used for publication types, research schedules, or data collection intervals (e.g., 'a weekly journal', 'weekly observations').
Everyday
Common for routines, chores, and media consumption (e.g., 'weekly shopping', 'my favourite weekly podcast').
Technical
In computing, can refer to backup cycles or data aggregation periods (e.g., 'weekly backups', 'weekly data snapshots').
Examples
By Part of Speech
adverb
British English
- The bin collection happens weekly.
- The data is updated weekly.
- I get paid weekly.
American English
- The trash is collected weekly.
- The report is generated weekly.
- I get paid weekly.
adjective
British English
- She does a big weekly shop at the supermarket.
- He writes a column for a local weekly newspaper.
- Our weekly team briefing is every Monday morning.
American English
- She does her weekly grocery shopping on Sundays.
- He subscribes to a weekly news magazine.
- Our weekly staff meeting is every Monday morning.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- I have English class weekly.
- We go to the market weekly.
- The magazine is published weekly.
- She receives a weekly allowance from her parents.
- Please send me the weekly report by Friday.
- The committee convenes weekly to review progress.
- His weekly column offers insightful commentary on current affairs.
- Fluctuations in weekly sales figures can indicate market trends.
- The journal, a respected weekly, often sets the agenda for political debate.
- Analysts scrutinise the weekly unemployment claims data for signs of economic shifts.
- The project's agile methodology involves weekly sprints and retrospectives.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think of 'WEEK' + 'LY'. Just like 'day' becomes 'daily', 'week' becomes 'weekly' for something happening every week.
Conceptual Metaphor
TIME IS A CYCLE (The week is a standard, repeating unit of time measurement).
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Do not confuse with 'недельный' which can mean 'lasting a week' (e.g., a weekly trip). 'Weekly' as an adjective/adverb focuses on recurrence, not duration. The noun 'weekly' translates to 'еженедельник'.
- Avoid directly translating structures like 'раз в неделю' as 'one time in a week'. 'Weekly' or 'once a week' is more natural.
Common Mistakes
- Using 'weekly' as a noun for a person (incorrect: 'He is a weekly at the gym.' Correct: 'He goes to the gym weekly.').
- Confusing 'weekly' (frequency) with 'week-long' (duration).
- Incorrect adverb placement (less natural: 'We meet on a weekly basis.' More natural: 'We meet weekly.').
Practice
Quiz
Which sentence uses 'weekly' correctly as a noun?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
No, 'weekly' is not a standard verb in Modern English. It functions as an adjective, adverb, and noun.
'Weekly' is the common, everyday term. 'Hebdomadal' is a formal, technical, or literary synonym derived from Latin, rarely used in general conversation.
It is 'a weekly meeting'. The article 'a' is used because the word 'weekly' begins with a consonant sound (/w/).
The pronunciation is /ˈwiːk.li/ in both British and American English. The stress is on the first syllable ('WEEK'), and the '-ly' is pronounced like 'lee'.