erratically
Americanadverb
-
in a way that deviates from what is normal or proper.
When other employees noticed she was behaving erratically, the store installed cameras and caught her stealing pills.
-
without any definite direction or pattern; in an irregular or inconsistent way.
The cyclone moved erratically westward and southward for two days while slowly strengthening into a tropical storm.
Since I was fourteen I've kept a journal, albeit somewhat erratically at times.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of erratically
First recorded in 1610–20; erratic ( def. ) + -ally ( def. )
Explanation
If you do something erratically, you do it in an arbitrary or irregular way. Driving erratically is a good way to get pulled over by a traffic cop. A new bike rider might pedal erratically up and down the street, swerving and stopping suddenly. Or, your anxiety about getting an important grade could make you behave erratically, chewing your nails nervously one minute and laughing loudly the next. Things that are erratic are uneven or unpredictable, and the Latin root is erraticus, "wandering, straying, or roving."
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.
If the stock starts trading erratically, bankers have a secret weapon to attempt to calm things down.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
Bis, the Homeland Security spokesperson, said Aceituno acted erratically, escalated the situation and refused to comply with officers’ commands.
From Los Angeles Times • May 26, 2026
This year hasn’t resembled 2025 at all, trading erratically at best.
From Barron's • Apr. 18, 2026
“Markets can gyrate and change their opinions regularly, erratically, and are often quite wrong,” said Rick Rieder, BlackRock’s chief investment officer of global fixed income, in emailed comments Friday.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 14, 2026
The boys strained and heaved and gasped for breath, but for all their efforts they moved Old Nero only slowly and erratically out of the Cut and onto the ruffled expanse of Lake Washington.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
