scattered

American  

[skat-erd] / ˈskæt ərd /

adjective

1. distributed or occurring at widely spaced and usually irregular intervals.

   scattered villages; scattered showers.

2. dispersed; disorganized.

   scattered forces.

3. distracted or disorganized.

   scattered thoughts.

4. Meteorology.  (of clouds) covering up to one-half of the sky.

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Other Word Forms

• scatteredly adverb
• scatteredness noun
• unscattered adjective
• well-scattered adjective

Etymology

Origin of scattered

scatter + -ed ²

Example Sentences

"So many people are scattered around," he added.

From BBC

"For the first time, we could see the whole profile rather than scattered patches."

From Science Daily

Much of it is now a gray zone, with neither side in control and positions scattered throughout the town.

From The Wall Street Journal

Four years older than me, he was dispatched to an American boarding school in Kodaikanal, a “hill station” scattered across the crevices of the Palani Hills, the eastern stretch of the Western Ghats mountain range.

From The Wall Street Journal

The tendrils of the tightly strung material connect, both physically and metaphorically, the wartime experiences documented in the photocopied pages scattered about, but they also bring to mind out-of-control cell growth and cancerous disease.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• intermittent
• isolated
• occasional
• sporadic