indiscriminate

[in-di-skrim-uh-nit]

adjective

1. not discriminating or discerning; lacking in care, judgment, selectivity, etc..

   indiscriminate in one's friendships.

2. done at random or without making distinctions; haphazard.

   indiscriminate slaughter.

3. not kept apart or divided; thrown together; jumbled.

   an indiscriminate combination of colors and styles.

   Synonyms: varied, motley, mixed, heterogeneous, random

indiscriminate

/ ˌɪndɪˈskrɪmɪnɪt /

adjective

1. lacking discrimination or careful choice; random or promiscuous

2. jumbled; confused

Other Word Forms

• indiscriminately adverb
• indiscriminateness noun
• indiscrimination noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of indiscriminate¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; in- ³ + discriminate (adjective)

Synonym Study

See miscellaneous.

Example Sentences

It is just one example in a litany of states practising indiscriminate election populism, according to Emkay Global.

Read more on BBC

Catholic bishops were sending the wrong message when they issued a rare statement supporting immigrants and opposing the ”indiscriminate mass deportations of people.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“We oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people,” the statement read.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He denounced "indiscriminate violence against women and children, attacks on unarmed civilians, and serious obstacles to humanitarian action" that have caused "unacceptable suffering to a population already exhausted by long months of conflict".

Read more on Barron's

"In these serious crime cases, we find that waves of arrests look more like drift nets," Bougrine told AFP on Saturday, pointing to what she said was the indiscriminate nature of some of the arrests.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• aimless 
• extensive 
• haphazard 
• unplanned 
• wholesale