choppy
Americanadjective
-
choppier,
comparative
-
choppiest
superlative
-
(of the sea, a lake, etc.) forming short, irregular, broken waves.
-
(of the wind) shifting or changing suddenly or irregularly; variable.
-
uneven in style or quality or characterized by poorly related parts.
The book was a choppy first novel.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of choppy
Explanation
When water is choppy, it's wind-blown and rippling with waves. It's tricky for a beginner to sail in a choppy lake. Choppy usually describes what happens to the surface of a body of water during a storm. Strong wind blowing across a bay, for example, turns the water choppy and rough. Something with a jerky, abrupt way of moving or flowing is also choppy, whether it's a piece of music or a filmed scene in a movie. In the 1600s, a stormy sea was described as chopping, which had changed to choppy by about 1830.
Vocabulary lists containing choppy
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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.
See Examples For:
Shares of Meta Platforms have been choppy on Wednesday as Wall Street assesses the implications of the company’s settlement in a closely watched legal battle over child safety.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
They got two more in the ninth after a second bases-loaded error by Edman came when he failed to field a choppy ground ball from David Hamilton, allowing Chourio and Lara to score.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Footage of the rescue shows one of the boys sat on the top of the front of the jet ski while the rest of the vehicle is submerged beneath choppy waves.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
The overloaded government ferry -- a vital link for villagers and fish traders around the vast lake -- overturned in choppy waters on Tuesday in one of the country's worst passenger boat disasters.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
To our right the choppy waters of the Artibonite rushed away, and to our left were a few small vessels plying the placid blue waters.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
For corporate issuers, we expect primary markets to be a bit choppier in the remaining months of the year as we see a step up in rates volatility, which is likely to weigh on spreads.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
“Bottom line, I like treating this weakness as an opportunity rather than a warning, with my expectation being for a push back to new highs before a choppier period materializes into September,” he says.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
The market action around the AI trade—plays on the global AI investment boom—got even choppier this past week.
From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2025
The water’s likely to get much choppier in the afternoon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2025
The wind has picked up a bit, so the waves are choppier and it’s a little colder.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
Beware of the Halloween dip, says Citadel Securities’ Scott Rubner, whose chart shows we’re in one of the choppiest months for stocks.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2025
It's been one of choppiest offseasons in recent memory, so maybe that light at the end of winter's tunnel isn't burning so bright this year.
From Golf Digest ● Mar. 2, 2020
Ken Livingstone sailed straight for the choppiest waters.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 27, 2016
Last September, the VIX hovered around levels nearly double its average, after a downgrade to the credit rating of the U.S. touched off some of the choppiest markets in years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2012
The choppiest schedule belongs to the 49ers: three 1 p.m. starts, one at 4:05, seven at 4:15, three at 8:20, two at 8:30, with appearances on all five N.F.L. networks.
From New York Times ● Apr. 21, 2012
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.
