arrhythmic
Americanadjective
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lacking in rhythm or having an irregular rhythm.
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Medicine/Medical. of or relating to arrhythmia.
Other Word Forms
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."
Vocabulary lists containing arrhythmic
American Gods
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Vocab Video Contest (2016) - List 1
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Zeitoun
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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.
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
The inquest at Inner West London Coroner's Court concluded Ms Davis died of arrhythmic cardiac arrest following complications of essential surgical treatment.
From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2025
Each pulse is triggered in response to the measured arrhythmic activity.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 23, 2024
ARLINGTON, Va. — It sounded like popcorn warming in a microwave: sporadic bursts that quickened, gradually, to an arrhythmic clatter.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 30, 2023
On any given night, one would become excited by something and set off the rest, an arrhythmic call-and-response that could last hours until they calmed, one by one, into silence.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
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.
