Advertisement

Advertisement

View synonyms for sporadic

sporadic

[ spuh-rad-ik ]

adjective

  1. (of similar things or occurrences) appearing or happening at irregular intervals in time; occasional:

    sporadic renewals of enthusiasm.

    Antonyms: continuous

  2. appearing in scattered or isolated instances, as a disease.
  3. isolated, as a single instance of something; being or occurring apart from others.

    Synonyms: unconnected, separate

  4. occurring singly or widely apart in locality:

    the sporadic growth of plants.



sporadic

/ spəˈrædɪk /

adjective

  1. occurring at irregular points in time; intermittent

    sporadic firing

  2. scattered; isolated

    a sporadic disease

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


Discover More

Derived Forms

  • spoˈradically, adverb
  • spoˈradicalness, noun
Discover More

Other Words From

  • spo·rad·i·cal·ly adverb
  • spo·rad·i·cal·ness noun
  • spo·ra·dic·i·ty [spawr-, uh, -, dis, -i-tee], spo·ra·dism noun
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of sporadic1

First recorded in 1680–90; from Medieval Latin sporadicus, from Greek sporadikós, equivalent to sporad- (stem of sporás “strewn,” akin to sporá “sowing, seed”) + -ikos adjective suffix; spore, -ic
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of sporadic1

C17: from Medieval Latin sporadicus, from Greek sporadikos, from sporas scattered; related to Greek speirein to sow; see spore
Discover More

Example Sentences

This is where the sporadic and hectic handling of the romance in the movies fails.

The chanting—so much a part of protests here for the past 100-plus days—was sporadic through Monday night.

I left Lebanon in June 2012, but we kept in sporadic touch via Facebook.

Sporadic riots and fires did break out later during the festival.

Since then there have been a few sporadic accounts of what happened.

Then a silence ensued, broken at first by sporadic and staccato remarks, then becoming as dense as the silences of the night.

Then sporadic rumours began to creep about, and the atmosphere became charged.

In the Third Culture Epoch there was found “copper, with sporadic appearance of low percentage of tin.”

Three times the old blood-feud had broken into sporadic outbursts, and three men had been shot.

The other two are genuinely new creations, if we except certain sporadic beginnings that occur in the transitional culture.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement