choppy

[ chop-ee ]

adjective

, chop·pi·er, chop·pi·est.

1. (of the sea, a lake, etc.) forming short, irregular, broken waves.
2. (of the wind) shifting or changing suddenly or irregularly; variable.
3. uneven in style or quality or characterized by poorly related parts:

   The book was a choppy first novel.

choppy

/ ˈtʃɒpɪ /

adjective

1. (of the sea, weather, etc) fairly rough

Derived Forms

• ˈchoppiness, noun
• ˈchoppily, adverb

Other Words From

• choppi·ly adverb
• choppi·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of choppy¹

First recorded in 1595–1605; chop ² + -y ¹

Example Sentences

The waters quickly turned choppy after that as the virus spread around the world.

From Washington Post

Video posted on Instagram, Tik-Tok and Facebook documented at least 10 other boats rushing to aid the sinking vessel and plucking 60 victims out of the choppy water.

From Washington Blade

It’s another day of choppy trade in stocks, oil, and in Bitcoin.

From Fortune

From a player standpoint, that means no more choppy, slow-loading environments, and more realistic lighting effects that integrate convincing reflections and highlights.

From Popular-Science

If video conferencing gets choppy or cuts out, it’s difficult to get information out to kids.

From Voice of San Diego

The San Francisco Chronicle called it "choppy and flawed," CNN "a bizarre failure."

From The Daily Beast

(The choppy, inert 2000 TV movie with Toby Stephens, Mira Sorvino and Paul Rudd barely registered a blip).

From The Daily Beast

But it is setting off on a new course, alone, into choppy seas.

From The Daily Beast

After a choppy run in the U.S., could David Beckham be headed to Paris—or China?

From The Daily Beast

You see, when states have the ability to curtail the applications of a Constitutional right, you get into choppy waters.

From The Daily Beast

But there was a breeze blowing, a choppy, stiff wind that whipped the water into froth.

From Project Gutenberg

Elton had a pleasant, sun-burnt face and a little choppy moustache beneath which his teeth glistened when he smiled.

From Project Gutenberg

We were always out to tea, and to boil the kettle in a choppy sea was the great excitement.

From Project Gutenberg

The surface of the ocean was unusually calm for that quarter, in which a rather choppy sea is usually running.

From Project Gutenberg

The water was choppy and roily, the canoe bobbed a good deal, the anchors dragged, and we did not see any fish.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• rough
• uneven