randomly
Americanadverb
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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.
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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.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of randomly
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Flagg card was randomly inserted in a pack of Topps 2026 Chrome Basketball Update Series and placed on the market Aug. 6.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Instead of randomly giving this young man money, why not check in with him to see exactly where he needs help?
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
Yet Mr. Cregger, in a script co-written with Shay Hatten, makes him a randomly selected single combatant dedicated to defending life—a knight among the living dead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
"If you call me and say you want a job randomly, I'm much less likely to help than if you call and ask for five minutes of advice."
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
The lamps around the door were flickering on and off almost randomly now, spelling out no words that Coraline could understand.
From "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman
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.
