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I am trying to write a document that describes the frequency with which we perform a task. It is usually done daily, however I don't want to be tied to having to do it daily. Is there a more professional word I can use to mean near-daily?

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What is wrong with near-daily itself? I don't think you would be misunderstood. – cornbread ninja 麵包忍者 Jul 4 '12 at 19:42
I doubt this word exist, but I think that you could use hours as time unit. Hours seem more professional than daily (e.g. "36/48 hours"~"near-daily") – Carlo_R. Jul 4 '12 at 19:49
You might just say, "This task is typically performed daily." – Jim Jul 4 '12 at 20:40
@cornbread ninja: It is not matter of misunderstanding, Danielle is searching for more professional word. – Carlo_R. Jul 4 '12 at 21:27
You could spell out, or provide an example of, what might stop it being done: "The task is performed daily unless [something prevents it]" – Andrew Leach Jul 4 '12 at 21:37

2 Answers

up vote 6 down vote

The phrase most days is widely used: "Most days we have a staff meeting."

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For any other context, I'd agree. But OP specifically asked for a more professional word/expression. I think "most days" has a very casual/informal ring to it. He in fact would probably be forced into some more convoluted but vague phrasing, such as "at least 3-4 times per week" (5-6 if it's a 7-day week context). – FumbleFingers Jul 4 '12 at 20:23
up vote 6 down vote

I don't know of a word that means "near-daily" or "most days". Besides those terms, consider "almost-daily", "at most daily", and "daily (as needed)". If the task is always performed at the same time of day, you might refer to "the X task (as needed)" where X is, for example, dawn, morning, noon, afternoon, evening, or a specific time.

Usually and related words lead to phrasings such as nominally daily, normally daily, notionally daily, ordinarily daily, and usually daily.

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+1 for daily (as needed). – Daniel δ Jul 4 '12 at 21:38
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I'd have to recommend against "notionally daily" ~ but I'm still glad jwpat included it in the list. – J.R. Jul 5 '12 at 0:55

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