random Hear it!

random Definition

ran·dom (ran′dəm)

noun

impetuous and haphazard movement: now only in at random, without careful choice, aim, plan, etc.; haphazardly

Etymology: ME randoun < OFr randon, violence, speed (in a randon, violently) < randir, to run violently < Frank *rant, a running, akin to OHG rinnan, to run

adjective

  1. lacking aim or method; purposeless; haphazard
  2. not uniform; esp., of different sizes: said of stones, etc. in certain types of masonry
  3. Statistics of statistical sample selection in which all possible samples have equal probability of selection

random Related Forms

ran′·domly adverb ran′·dom·ness noun

random Synonyms

random

modif.

haphazard, chance, casual, arbitrary, desultory, aimless, indiscriminate, irregular, unsystematic, undirected, unplanned, planless, purposeless, orderless, accidental, fortuitous, blind, hit-or-miss, stray, erratic, aleatory, stochastic; see also aimless, haphazard, irregular 1.

random applies to that which occurs or is done without careful choice, aim, plan, etc. a random remark; haphazard applies to that which is done, made, or said without regard for its consequences, relevance, etc. and therefore stresses the implication of accident or chance a haphazard selection of books; casual implies happening or seeming to happen by chance without intention or purpose and often connotes nonchalance, indifference, etc. a casual glance at the newspaper; desultory suggests a lack of method or system, as in jumping from one thing to another her desultory reading in the textbook; chance emphasizes accidental occurrence without prearrangement or planning a chance encounter

at random

haphazardly, by chance, aimlessly; see accidentally, haphazardly.

random Usage Examples

Adjective complement with noun phrase

seem: Extinction It seems that something much more random could have played a significant role.

Modifies a noun

  • generator: Unusual features: A random number generator is required.
  • sample: Also included are two random samples of 100 records.
  • sampling: The sample group was obtained by simple random sampling from 105 licensed units in the United Kingdom.
  • mutation: The team found the mystery protein through screening random mutations in mice.
  • variable: The Poisson Distribution Recall what we meant by a random variable.
  • selection: Make random selections from hundreds of rhythms matching the grade level.

Modifying Another Word

  • seemingly: The movie opens up with a seemingly random group of people suddenly dropping stone-cold dead in Boston.
  • apparently: A series of apparently random murders has brought an eerie quiet to the city.
  • purely: Or perhaps the selection of the dates is purely random.
  • completely: Press the button for your numbers Numbers generated are completely random.
  • utterly: You'll recognize them; them, they're the ' eccentric ' folk who drift from place to place making utterly random comments.
  • totally: As far as they could determine, the victims were not being interrogated; the violence appeared totally random.

Used with adjective complement

  • appear: As far as they could determine, the victims were not being interrogated; the violence appeared totally random.
  • seem: Why do the durations and frequencies of both normal and reversed states seem random?

Preposition: in

street: The soldiers also killed at random in streets and houses, so that no witnesses would remain.

Preposition: from

  • entry: A winner will be selected at random from all entries received by 9 am on Friday, August 4.
  • register: The Audit Data was collected retrospectively from 105 sets of written patient records selected at random from the practice diabetes register.
  • answer: MI6 will choose the winners at random from the correct answers received.

Preposition: by

computer: Winners will be drawn at random by computer on the specified date.