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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 3
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Touching Spirit Bear
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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 their seemingly haphazard jumble is purposeful, reminding us that this is not a temple but a workshop, a place of ongoing activity in which new and experimental art is incubated.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 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
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
They called out their own names, women’s pretty names, haphazard names, horizontal names of one generation.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
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.
