oftimes

An archaic or literary adverb meaning 'often' or 'frequently'. Oftimes has the feel of old-fashioned formal writing — the kind of word you'd find in a 19th-century novel or a poetic passage. In contemporary usage it's almost exclusively ironic or deliberately archaic, dropped into speech or writing to create a mock-serious or elevated tone. It's rarely used straight-faced, which is part of its charm.