hit-and-miss

[ hit-n-mis ]

adjective

1. sometimes successful or rewarding and sometimes not.

hit-and-miss

adjective

1. informal.
   random; haphazard Alsohit or miss

   a hit-and-miss affair

   the technique is very hit and miss

Word History and Origins

Origin of hit-and-miss¹

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

I am abroad, in places where communication with the wider world has been a bit hit-and-miss.

From The Daily Beast

Man does not have to follow nature's slow hit-and-miss method of developing more desirable qualities in her products.

From Project Gutenberg

The governors employed for the "hit-and-miss" type are either "inertia" or "centrifugal" governors.

From Project Gutenberg

For small motors, one of the most widely used admission devices is that of the "hit-and-miss" type.

From Project Gutenberg

The second form is more widely used, and is applicable to engines having "hit-and-miss" or variable admission devices.

From Project Gutenberg

It had all one common mark; it was all "the church," but the hit-and-miss of it, its lightning change, bewildered him.

From Project Gutenberg