haphazard
Americanadjective
adverb
noun
adverb
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
- haphazardly adverb
- haphazardness noun
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.
And here, Orsolya’s sincere if haphazard search for understanding, visible in every fiber of Tompa’s affecting central performance, cleverly lets Jude expose the insufficiency in quick fixes.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 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
What they’ve done is all these haphazard redactions, redacting a bunch of things they’re not supposed to redact.
From Slate • Feb. 4, 2026
“Have you seen our loos? They’re literally in a wooden shed and they’re cold,” Gyngell told the Telegraph, adding: “Service can be very haphazard and there’s nothing fancy or clever about our food.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 3, 2025
Anya had built a haphazard sukkah, and then her friends Ivan and Håkon had come over to see it.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
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.
