episodic
Americanadjective
-
pertaining to or of the nature of an episode.
-
divided into separate or tenuously related parts or sections; loosely connected.
an episodic novel.
- Synonyms:
- digressive, wandering, rambling
-
occurring sporadically or incidentally.
adjective
-
resembling or relating to an episode
-
divided into or composed of episodes
-
irregular, occasional, or sporadic
Usage
What does episodic mean? Episodic describes things that are divided into episodes—parts or installments in a series.The word episode is perhaps most popularly used to refer to one of the parts that a TV series is divided into, as in I’ve seen every single episode of The Office. A TV show is especially described as episodic when each episode is its own standalone story, as in Showrunners are planning to make the reboot more episodic, with each episode being its own adventure. (Of course, many shows have episodes that contain a standalone story that also ties into the bigger narrative.)A more general sense of the word episode refers to a specific incident in a continuous series of events or an occurrence of a recurring event. In this way, episodic can be used to describe things that occur occasionally or at irregular intervals. Similar terms are occasional, irregular, and sporadic.Example: Epilepsy is sometimes described as an episodic disability because seizures happen at irregular intervals.
Other Word Forms
- episodically adverb
- nonepisodic adjective
- nonepisodical adjective
- nonepisodically adverb
Etymology
Origin of episodic
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.
He added that “we need to get the economics right to be able to continue to invest that money and not go through these huge episodic periods of losing money.”
Most to my taste is “Bookish,” an episodic British import beginning Sunday on PBS.
From Los Angeles Times
While episodic global volatility may cause short-term fluctuations, strong policy credibility, export inflows and attractive carry conditions may support a positive medium-term outlook for the ringgit, they add.
“The sense that the market is well supplied, at least in the near term, continues to outweigh episodic geopolitical risk premiums,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.
From Barron's
On Wednesday, Sundance released its upcoming lineup of 90 feature films and seven episodic projects, at least a handful of which will likely emerge as pacesetters for the rest of the year.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
