frequency

"Frequency" is a word with two closely related but distinct areas of meaning — one from everyday life and one from science. Here are the most common senses you'll encounter.

1nounhow often something happens

When you talk about how often something occurs — whether it happens rarely, sometimes, or all the time — you are talking about its frequency. Think of it as a measure of repetition. High frequency means it happens a lot; low frequency means it barely happens.

everyday language · Modern, widely used

The frequency of her headaches increased after she started working long hours.

Buses on this route run with a frequency of every 10 minutes.

The teacher was concerned about the frequency of mistakes in the students' writing.

2nounradio or sound wave frequency

In science and technology, frequency refers to how many times a wave — like a sound wave or a radio wave — repeats itself in one second. This is why radio stations have numbers like '98.5 FM' — that number is their frequency. Higher frequency sounds are higher-pitched (like a whistle), and lower frequency sounds are deeper (like a drum).

science / technology · Modern, widely used

The radio station broadcasts on a frequency of 101.5 MHz.

Dogs can hear sounds at a much higher frequency than humans can.

The engineer adjusted the frequency of the signal to improve the transmission.

3nounfigurativeregularity or commonness (figurative)

You can also use frequency in a more general, figurative way to describe how common or regular something feels — not just counting exact occurrences, but giving a sense of pattern or habit.

everyday language / writing · Modern, widely used · figurative

With alarming frequency, the company was making the same errors.

He visited his grandmother with increasing frequency as she got older.

The word appears with surprising frequency in her poetry.