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.
When their pulse is arrhythmic, as Cowboy’s was when we first met, it jolts everyone around him into a sense of unease.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2025
Each pulse is triggered in response to the measured arrhythmic activity.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 23, 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
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
The girl leans into my ear to shout above the atonal arrhythmic affront to decency that is Ashland Avenue.
From "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan
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.
