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

Officials said debris was scattered for half a mile around where the building once stood.

Read more on BBC

At Al-Rantisi hospital, a facility for children and cancer patients, AFP footage showed wards reduced to heaps of overturned metal beds, gaping ceilings and scattered medical equipment.

Read more on Barron's

Mountaineering Scotland said many more hillwalkers and mountaineers were now requesting their ashes be scattered on the top of their favourite mountains.

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While not actually rare, they are difficult to extract because they are scattered and mixed among other rocks and minerals.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Instead, these neurons were scattered across many other cell types.

Read more on Science Daily

Related Words

• intermittent 
• isolated 
• occasional 
• sporadic