sporadic
adjective
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Sporadic Has Medieval Latin Roots
You never know where or when the occasion to use sporadic will pop up, but when it does, sporadic is the perfect choice to describe something that happens randomly or irregularly, often in scattered instances or isolated outbursts. The word comes from Medieval Latin sporadicus, which is itself derived from Greek sporadēn, meaning “here and there.” It is also related to the Greek verb speirein (“to sow”), the ancestor from which we get our word spore (the reproductive cell of a fungus, microorganism, or some plants), hinting at the seemingly scattered nature by which such cells spread and germinate.
Synonyms
Examples of sporadic in a Sentence
Mark Krikorian, National Review, 26 Jan. 2004
I left Madras twenty years ago. Two marriages and three children later I am a different man from the one who left. My return visits have been sporadic. But there is great delight in a homecoming.
—Abraham Verghese, Atlantic, February 2001
The Bronx begins here physically, and it began here historically as well; this was the site of Jonas Bronck's farmhouse. Not much is known about him: he was a Swedish sea captain who was induced to settle the area by the Dutch West India Company. A peace treaty signed at Bronck's house ended years of sporadic but bloody skirmishes between the Dutch and the Weckquasgeeks.
—Marcus Laffey, New Yorker, 15 May 2000
Sporadic cases of the disease were reported.
sporadic loud noises kept startling everyone
Hayleigh Evans, The Arizona Republic, 14 Nov. 2024
The key is to move beyond sporadic volunteerism toward strategic, long-term partnerships that create measurable impact.
—Mark Morgan, Forbes, 6 Nov. 2024
Haze — a cousin of drum legend Buddy Rich — went on to appear in Corman’s 1963 films The Terror and X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes and would have sporadic film and TV roles culminating with the 2010 gangland drama feature Nobody Smiling.
—Erik Pedersen, Deadline, 4 Nov. 2024
Popular on Variety As for adult viewers, they may be engrossed during the sporadic stretches of middling suspense, and impressed by the striking cinematography of Idan Menin, which greatly enhances the movie’s overall impact.
—Joe Leydon, Variety, 1 Nov. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Sporadic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sporadic. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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sporadic
adjective
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