episodic

American  

[ep-uh-sod-ik, -zod-] / ˌɛp əˈsɒd ɪk, -ˈzɒd- /

Also episodical

adjective

1. pertaining to or of the nature of an episode.

2. divided into separate or tenuously related parts or sections; loosely connected.

   an episodic novel.

   Synonyms:

   digressive, wandering, rambling

3. occurring sporadically or incidentally.

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episodic British  

/ ˌɛpɪˈsɒdɪk /

adjective

1. resembling or relating to an episode

2. divided into or composed of episodes

3. irregular, occasional, or sporadic

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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

• nonepisodic
  adjective
• nonepisodical
  adjective
• episodically
  adverb
• nonepisodically
  adverb

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Etymology

Origin of episodic

First recorded in 1705–15; episode + -ic

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Explanation

If you have an episodic interest in professional sports, you pay attention to sports from time to time, but you're not a regular fan. The adjective episodic is often used to mean "occasional" or "every once in a while." If you have a bad cough that comes and goes, you could call it an "episodic condition." When used in this way, episodic suggests that the cough appears at irregular, or random, intervals. Episodic can also describe the way certain stories are told. An "episodic narrative" is a story that is told through a series of episodes, or segments. A soap opera on television, for instance, is an episodic program.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

episodic

Clue leads to clue in next to no time, this being an episodic show that needs to tie a bow around an investigation in something like 42 minutes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

If the film feels episodic while tracking the detours of the four—some antic, others grave—that’s partly the point: Among other things, the movie is a brief for leisure as a source of pleasure and disclosure.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

That area plays a key role in forming and retrieving what scientists call episodic memories: memories of specific events and experiences in a person's life.

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026

The researchers focused on the hippocampus, a brain region that plays a major role in episodic memory and emotional responses to the environment.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026

The Zapatista rebellion that convulsed southern Mexico in the 1990s was merely the most recent battle in an episodic colonial war that began in the sixteenth century.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

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Related Words

• anecdotal
• disjointed

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