sporadically

[ spuh-rad-ik-uh-lee ]

adverb

1. every now and then; at irregular intervals in time:

   Ox-eye sunflowers bloom sporadically throughout the summer.

2. here and there; in scattered locations:

   Little candles, placed sporadically among the chapel pews, lit up people’s faces.

Word History and Origins

Origin of sporadically¹

First recorded in 1675–85; sporadic ( def ) + -ally ( def )

Example Sentences

Peeking out from the red and orange leaves of an unusually warm Ohio autumn, "Trump-Vance" and "Bernie Moreno" signs sporadically dotted yards along the snaking, wooded roads heading east to State Route 315, a main highway of central Ohio.

From Salon

They grew along all the roads I took up to Interstate 25, continuing more sporadically through Pueblo and Colorado Springs before disappearing in Denver’s sprawl.

From Los Angeles Times

Israel has demonstrated a willingness during its recent escalation to strike residential buildings without warning as it attempts to degrade Hezbollah, which has been sporadically firing rockets into Israel for a year since the day after the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023.

From BBC

A regular keeper in his younger days, Zaltzman now takes the gloves “sporadically” and is “quite a bad wicketkeeper”.

From BBC

Since the Rafah crossing closed, the exit list has been sporadically published, often with little notice.

From Slate

Related Words

• intermittently
• now and then
• occasionally
• rarely
• seldom
• sparingly