sporadic

The definition of sporadic is something that happens occasionally or at irregular intervals.

(adjective)

An example of sporadic is when you go to the doctor only once every five years or so.

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See sporadic in Webster's New World College Dictionary

adjective

  1. happening from time to time; not constant or regular; occasional
  2. widely separated from others, scattered, or isolated in occurrence; appearing singly, apart, or in isolated instances

Origin: ML sporadicus < Gr sporadikos < sporas, scattered: for IE base see spore

Related Forms:

See sporadic in American Heritage Dictionary 4

adjective
  1. Occurring at irregular intervals; having no pattern or order in time. See Synonyms at periodic.
  2. Appearing singly or at widely scattered localities, as a plant or disease.
  3. Isolated; unique: a sporadic example.

Origin:

Origin: Medieval Latin sporadicus, scattered

Origin: , from Greek sporadikos

Origin: , from sporas, sporad-; see sper- in Indo-European roots

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Related Forms:

  • spo·radˈi·cal·ly adverb
  • spo·radˈi·cal·ness noun

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