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when the mood strikes

ADVERB
off-and-on
Synonyms
WEAK
alternately at irregular intervals fluctuating hardly infrequently intermittent irregularly not often on and off scarcely sometimes sporadically vacillating variable very seldom
ADVERB
on and off
Synonyms
WEAK
alternately at irregular intervals fluctuating inconstantly infrequently intermittently irregularly not often now and then off and on sometimes sporadically uncertainly variable very seldom

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

How do you find a balance that takes advantage of those strengths in service of the system and still leaves room for him to go full-on Jimi Hendrix solo when the mood strikes him?

From Slate • Sep. 4, 2020

A vision in face paint and elaborate headgear, Xianniang can assume other human forms and, when the mood strikes her, erupt into a mighty flock of birds.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 3, 2020

But credit Chandler, too, with an eye for decor — that carpet with the “Florida suntan” — and for being wickedly funny when the mood strikes.

From Washington Post • Jul. 26, 2018

And others will prefer to share when the mood strikes them rather than invite Facebook to nag them.

From The Verge • Nov. 9, 2015

“Ah yes. How it’s all right to burn our clothes when the mood strikes us because we’re going to die young?”

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor