scattered

[skat-erd]

adjective

1. distributed or occurring at widely spaced and usually irregular intervals.

   scattered villages; scattered showers.

2. dispersed; disorganized.

   scattered forces.

3. distracted or disorganized.

   scattered thoughts.

4. Meteorology.,  (of clouds) covering up to one-half of the sky.

Other Word Forms

• scatteredly adverb
• scatteredness noun
• unscattered adjective
• well-scattered adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of scattered¹

scatter + -ed ²

Example Sentences

Four years older than me, he was dispatched to an American boarding school in Kodaikanal, a “hill station” scattered across the crevices of the Palani Hills, the eastern stretch of the Western Ghats mountain range.

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The tendrils of the tightly strung material connect, both physically and metaphorically, the wartime experiences documented in the photocopied pages scattered about, but they also bring to mind out-of-control cell growth and cancerous disease.

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Yellow and red smoke bombs representing grenade fire could be seen rising above power facilities scattered across the city.

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Their livelihoods encouraged them to live in small, scattered settlements to reduce the effort and time required to reach their fields.

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This area contains a series of long, shallow grooves set within a landscape of deep valleys, scattered impact craters, and surface textures that point to a distant ice age on the Red Planet.

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Related Words

• intermittent 
• isolated 
• occasional 
• sporadic