haphazard
Americanadjective
adverb
noun
adverb
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of haphazard
Explanation
Anything haphazard is random, disorganized, slipshod, or hit-or-miss. A tent erected haphazardly might look more like a big nylon bag of dirty laundry than a place to sleep. Ever heard the expression "I'll hazard a guess?" In it, the word hazard means "chance," as in "take a chance." Think of the hap in haphazard as short for "happen." Combine hap- and -hazard and you get something that happens (or appears to have happened) by chance. If you approach a math problem with haphazard reasoning, you're likely to get it wrong.
Vocabulary lists containing haphazard
List 3
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 3
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Touching Spirit Bear
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Tools for saving markets from drying up are more haphazard.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
High levels of Cold War "secrecy" were a factor in the haphazard approach taken towards the medical records of nuclear test veterans, an official report has found.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
Buses are infrequent and haphazard, while the subway has only six trundling lines radiating out from the centre, making connections impossible without going all the way in and then all the way out again.
From Barron's ● May 27, 2026
You could take many of those same critiques and apply them to the haphazard way in which city and county leaders have addressed homelessness.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 16, 2026
Its axles were set on piles of cinder blocks and the formerly yellow vehicle was painted a rather haphazard eggshell white.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
