sporadic

Sometimes spo·rad·i·cal

[spuh-rad-ik]

adjective

1. (of similar things or occurrences) appearing or happening at irregular intervals in time; occasional.

   sporadic renewals of enthusiasm.

   Antonyms: continuous

2. appearing in scattered or isolated instances, as a disease.

3. isolated, as a single instance of something; being or occurring apart from others.

   Synonyms: unconnected, separate

4. occurring singly or widely apart in locality.

   the sporadic growth of plants.

sporadic

/ spəˈrædɪk /

adjective

1. occurring at irregular points in time; intermittent

   sporadic firing

2. scattered; isolated

   a sporadic disease

Other Word Forms

• sporadically adverb
• sporadicalness noun
• sporadicity noun
• sporadism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of sporadic¹

First recorded in 1680–90; from Medieval Latin sporadicus, from Greek sporadikós, equivalent to sporad- (stem of sporás “strewn,” akin to sporá “sowing, seed”) + -ikos adjective suffix; spore, -ic

Word History and Origins

Origin of sporadic¹

C17: from Medieval Latin sporadicus, from Greek sporadikos, from sporas scattered; related to Greek speirein to sow; see _spore

Example Sentences

Ohio State scored on its first five drives on the way to a 48-10 victory on Saturday at Ohio Stadium, the highlights for the Bruins sporadic enough to be counted on one hand.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The reality: Portland’s 2020 social justice protests, which resulted in hundreds of arrests and continued for months, turned sporadic by early 2021.

Read more on Salon

The 2018 power-sharing agreement that ended the war has been fraught with challenges, as tensions persist and sporadic violence continues to erupt.

Read more on BBC

Over the next few decades, sporadic attempts to shorten working hours continued.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Evidence previously suggested that early human tool use was sporadic: randomly developed and quickly forgotten.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• desultory 
• fitful 
• infrequent 
• intermittent 
• irregular 
• isolated 
• occasional 
• random 
• rare 
• scattered 
• spotty