stochastic
Americanadjective
adjective
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statistics
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(of a random variable) having a probability distribution, usually with finite variance
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(of a process) involving a random variable the successive values of which are not independent
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(of a matrix) square with non-negative elements that add to unity in each row
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rare involving conjecture
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Involving or containing a random variable or variables.
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Involving chance or probability.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of stochastic
1655–65; < Greek stochastikós, equivalent to stochas- (variant stem of stocházesthai to aim at) + -tikos -tic
Explanation
The adjective stochastic describes something that has a random variable. You like to joke that the city buses follow a stochastic schedule because they arrive at random times at the various bus stops. Stochastic is from the Greek word stokhastikos, meaning "able to guess," with the root stokhos meaning "a target" — in Greek stokhos literally means "a stick meant for archers to shoot at." The "guess" part of the original Greek work is still part of the word's meaning today: A stochastic process in a computer program, for example, is one where you can't predict what is going to happen in the program because of something random in it.
Vocabulary lists containing stochastic
hard words
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sander Van Der Linden, a professor of social psychology at the University of Cambridge, uses the term "stochastic terrorism" to describe events like this.
From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2026
Combining the stochastic oscillator with support and resistance improves results.
From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026
Like other group behaviors, traffic exhibits statistical and stochastic patterns, with variations summed over vast regularity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026
But I think that, in a world of vigilantism and stochastic terror, it is not just bad for speech qua speech, but for governance qua governance.
From Slate ● Sep. 12, 2025
Oppression breeds resistance and Serb oppression served only to streamline the stochastic nationalist movement into a compartmentalized, though factious, underground organization with roots wherever Albanians resided: Germany, Switzerland, the USA, Canada and Australia.
From Terrorists and Freedom Fighters by Samuel Vaknin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
