randomly

[ran-duhm-lee]

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.

Other Word Forms

• nonrandomly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of randomly¹

random ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

One challenges them to "build and programme a robot that solves challenges on a field" that changes randomly for each round to allow the machines to make independent decisions.

Read more on Barron's

A pilot involving eight patients led to a full 11-month trial of 56 adults, aged roughly 20 to 45, randomly assigned to two groups.

Read more on BBC

In that trial, 62 adults with excess weight were randomly assigned to one of the two eating patterns for 16 weeks.

Read more on Science Daily

The celebrations required that one student, selected randomly, bake a cake in honor of the nation’s authoritarian ruler — a task requiring time and resources prohibitive to much of the population.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The children in these groups will be chosen randomly.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• aimlessly 
• carelessly www.thesaurus.com
• casually