randomly

American  

[ran-duhm-lee] / ˈræn dəm li /

adverb

1. without definite aim, reason, sense, or pattern.

   This poem just seems like a bunch of words randomly put together.

   Freckles generally appear randomly on the face and upper shoulders.

2. Statistics. in a way that gives each item in a set the equal probability of being chosen.

   A survey of 309 women aged 15 to 49 was conducted in nine randomly selected villages.

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Other Word Forms

• nonrandomly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of randomly

random ( def. ) + -ly

Explanation

Anything done randomly has no plan or strategy. If you choose your college courses randomly, you may end up studying some unusual topics. Hope you enjoy Advanced History of Cheese-Making! When you pick the name of a prize winner from, you're choosing randomly. In other words, there's no specific method to making the selection; you're simply grabbing a random slip of paper. Sometimes this adverb implies chaos: "Clothes were tossed randomly around her room, while a laundry basket stood empty." This haphazard sense of both randomly and random grew from the original definition, "at great speed."

Example Sentences

But concerns were raised when trading standards officers in Swansea began to randomly DNA test doner meat from takeaways in the city in 2020 and 2021.

From BBC • Jul. 2, 2026

That’s a significant increase over what we would expect if wide divergences occurred randomly, since bear markets have occurred just 24.8% of the time since 1971.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 29, 2026

Flash frames, scratches and specks of dust pop up randomly on the screen.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 19, 2026

The volunteers were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either a daily probiotic supplement or a placebo for 12 weeks.

From Science Daily • Jun. 17, 2026

I let my mind randomly fill in the details.

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton

Related Words

• aimlessly
• carelessly
• casually