arrhythmic

American  

[uh-rith-mik, ay-rith-] / əˈrɪð mɪk, eɪˈrɪð- /

adjective

1. lacking in rhythm or having an irregular rhythm.

2. Medicine/Medical. of or relating to arrhythmia.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• proarrhythmic
  adjective
• arrhythmically
  adverb
• non-arrhythmic
  adjective
• antiarrhythmic
  adjective
• arrhythmicity
  noun

Explanation

Someone who can’t keep a beat is probably a bad dancer. They’re also arrhythmic, which is an adjective that means having no rhythm at all. Most people have a steady heartbeat, ticking one pulse after another like a clock. But if you have an arrhythmic heartbeat, better call a doctor!. An arrhythmic heart beats randomly, without any regular pattern. The word can be tough to spell, so one trick is to start with the word rhythm, then add the prefix ar- (meaning “without”) and the suffix -ic (“characterized by”). Spell it that way, and you’ve got the definition memorized too: "characterized by being without rhythm."

Example Sentences

No, Moore goes for the hard stuff: wailing saxophones, arrhythmic bass lines, drums that follow beats so out of time they might as well come from the deepest reaches of space.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 16, 2025

Each pulse is triggered in response to the measured arrhythmic activity.

From Science Daily • Apr. 23, 2024

And they’re attracted to rhythmic thumps on the surface, so the Fremen — people who live in the Arrakis desert — walk in strange, loping, arrhythmic steps to avoid accidental detection.

From New York Times • Mar. 6, 2024

Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome is when someone dies suddenly and unexpectedly from a cardiac arrest, but the cause of the cardiac arrest can't be found.

From BBC • Mar. 1, 2024

His heart was pounding inside his chest like a small drum, not in its usual steady march but in a wild, arrhythmic abandon.

From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman