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definitions

erratic

[ih-rat-ik]
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adjective

deviating from the usual or proper course in conduct or opinion; eccentric; queer: erratic behavior.
having no certain or definite course; wandering; not fixed: erratic winds.
Geology. noting or pertaining to a boulder or the like carried by glacial ice and deposited some distance from its place of origin.
(of a lichen) having no attachment to the surface on which it grows.

noun

an erratic or eccentric person.
Geology. an erratic boulder or the like.

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RELATED WORDS

whimsical, unusual, volatile, uncertain, irregular, wayward, mercurial, arbitrary, abnormal, capricious, unstable, inconsistent, eccentric, unreliable, bizarre, weird, aberrant, anomalous, changeable, desultory

Nearby words

  1. errant,
  2. errantly,
  3. errantry,
  4. errare humanum est,
  5. errata,
  6. erratum,
  7. errhine,
  8. erring,
  9. erringly,
  10. errol

Origin of erratic

1325–75; Middle English < Latin errāticus, equivalent to errāt(us) (past participle of errāre to err) + -icus -ic
ANTONYMS FOR erratic
1. consistent, regular, stable.
SEE MORE ANTONYMS FOR erratic ON THESAURUS.COM
Related forms
Can be confusederotic erratic exotic
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for erratic

British Dictionary definitions for erratic

erratic

adjective

irregular in performance, behaviour, or attitude; inconsistent and unpredictable
having no fixed or regular course; wandering

noun

a piece of rock that differs in composition, shape, etc, from the rock surrounding it, having been transported from its place of origin, esp by glacial action
an erratic person or thing
Derived Formserratically, adverb

Word Origin for erratic

C14: from Latin errāticus, from errāre to wander, err
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for erratic

erratic

adj.

late 14c., "wandering, moving," from Old French erratique (13c.) and directly from Latin erraticus "wandering, straying, roving," from erratum "an error, mistake, fault," past participle of errare "to wander, err" (see err). Sense of "irregular, eccentric" is attested by 1841. The noun is from 1620s, of persons; 1849, of boulders. Related: Erratically.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper