sporadically

American  

[spuh-rad-ik-uh-lee] / spəˈræd ɪk ə li /

adverb

1. every now and then; at irregular intervals in time.

   Ox-eye sunflowers bloom sporadically throughout the summer.

2. here and there; in scattered locations.

   Little candles, placed sporadically among the chapel pews, lit up people’s faces.

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Etymology

Origin of sporadically

First recorded in 1675–85; sporadic ( def. ) + -ally ( def. )

Explanation

Something that happens sporadically doesn't occur with regularity, but rather periodically or occasionally. You might meet sporadically with your cousins, usually on minor holidays like Memorial Day or Flag Day. Sporadically comes from the Greek word sporadikos, meaning scattered, with the root word spora, which means sowing. Imagine sowing seed by scattering it, and you'll get the hit-or-miss sense of sporadically. There is no pattern to the frequency of an event that occurs sporadically. Working sporadically is hard because you lack a steady income and never know when you'll be busy, but traveling sporadically can be fun.

Example Sentences

By night, darkness enveloped the streets, but electricity and reparto music bloomed sporadically from bodegas and bars.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

Nvidia’s share price has gone through other periods of turbulence over the past three years, as investors have sporadically worried about blowout AI spending creating a bubble that could suddenly burst.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026

Lutnick and his family visited Epstein on his island in 2012, and the two were in business and otherwise corresponding sporadically over the years; at least one email suggests they had scheduled drinks.

From Slate • Feb. 14, 2026

Now rubbish is only collected sporadically and despite the oil reserves, the region has been hit by a severe energy crisis over the past decade with blackouts reported almost daily.

From BBC • Jan. 29, 2026

Gagging sporadically, the volunteer patiently scraped out the corpses, cooked up another sugar solution, and rehung the feeder, although already he was beginning to despair of ever attracting a hummingbird to his humble, accursed digs.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols

Related Words

• intermittently
• now and then
• occasionally
• rarely
• seldom
• sparingly