sporadic
Occurring at irregular intervals or only occasionally
Examples
In a meeting
“Attendance has been sporadic since we moved to optional office days.”
Over coffee
“I have sporadic contact with my high school friends.”
Why this word
occasional
Occasional means happening sometimes, while sporadic specifically emphasizes irregular, scattered occurrence without pattern
irregular
Irregular means not regular, while sporadic conveys infrequent and unpredictably scattered instances
rare
Rare emphasizes infrequency, while sporadic stresses the scattered, unpredictable nature of occurrence
Usage tip
Use for events or actions that happen irregularly and infrequently; emphasizes lack of pattern
Etymology
Greek: sporadikos, from sporas 'scattered', from speirein 'to sow'
Get a new word every morning
One precise word per day. Under 60 seconds to read. Free forever.
Related words
invariably
In every case or on every occasion; always
perpetuate
To cause something to continue indefinitely
ubiquitous
Present, appearing, or found everywhere.
fluctuate
To rise and fall irregularly in number or amount.
intermittently
Occurring at irregular intervals, not continuously
recur
To happen again or repeatedly