haphazard
Americanadjective
adverb
noun
adverb
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of haphazard
Explanation
Anything haphazard is random, disorganized, slipshod, or hit-or-miss. A tent erected haphazardly might look more like a big nylon bag of dirty laundry than a place to sleep. Ever heard the expression "I'll hazard a guess?" In it, the word hazard means "chance," as in "take a chance." Think of the hap in haphazard as short for "happen." Combine hap- and -hazard and you get something that happens (or appears to have happened) by chance. If you approach a math problem with haphazard reasoning, you're likely to get it wrong.
Vocabulary lists containing haphazard
List 3
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 3
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Touching Spirit Bear
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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.
You could take many of those same critiques and apply them to the haphazard way in which city and county leaders have addressed homelessness.
From Los Angeles Times • May 16, 2026
You may reasonably conclude this is a haphazard system by which to make such important decisions.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 10, 2026
Trailing 7-6 going into the final end, they were without the hammer and looked set to suffer a decisive defeat after a haphazard performance.
From BBC • Feb. 18, 2026
For many years, surveillance and censorship were haphazard and unevenly enforced.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 6, 2026
Maybe he wouldn’t notice if I did a haphazard job on the tying.
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
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.
