at random

Idioms  

1. Without order or fixed purpose, haphazardly, as in Jackson Pollock dropped paints on canvas seemingly at random. Originally this phrase meant “very speedily” and “heedlessly.” Shakespeare had the present usage in 1 Henry VI (5:3): “He talks at random; sure the man is mad.” [Late 1500s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

at random

The peptides are routinely used in “stacks”; chosen at random, with arbitrarily chosen doses; and two drugs from the same class may be included for reasons that defy explanation.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026

The kids who lose these contests aren’t chosen at random.

From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026

The first enzyme cuts the long polymer chains at random points, reducing them into shorter sections.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said the brokerage in years past had to plead with issuers to set aside stock for the company’s IPO Access program, which distributes allocated retail shares at random to interested customers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026

Small lumps of matter—the first condensations in the disk—are injected at random times into the cloud.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

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Related Words

• aimlessly
• frantically
• indiscriminately
• instinctively
• madly
• wildly

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