only when

1. 1.

   never except when

   “call me only if your cold gets worse”

   Synonymsonlyonly if

Questions about only when

What does only when mean?

only when means "never except when".

What is another word for only when?

Close synonyms include only, only if. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is only when a common word?

only when is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.