Often means happening many times or frequently. When something happens often, it occurs again and again, though not necessarily every single time. If you often eat cereal for breakfast, you have it many mornings but maybe not all of them. If your teacher often gives pop quizzes, they happen regularly enough that you've learned to stay prepared.

The word sits between “sometimes” and “always.” Something that happens sometimes is occasional and unpredictable. Something that happens always occurs every single time without exception. But often suggests a clear pattern: it happens enough that you notice and can expect it, even if you can't predict exactly when.

You might notice that your best friend often forgets their lunch, or that it often rains on Tuesdays in April, or that you often think of good comebacks five minutes too late. The word captures that sense of “this keeps happening” without claiming it's inevitable. When someone says “more often than not,” they mean something happens most of the time, tipping past the halfway point toward “usually.”