at random
In no order
At random describes selection or occurrence without pattern, plan, or predictable order.
When something happens at random, each possibility has an equal or unknown chance of being chosen: Names were drawn at random from a hat.
The phrase often implies arbitrariness or lack of deliberate intent: He fired at random into the crowd.
In technical contexts, truly random processes are distinguished from those that merely appear unpredictable.
Randomized prize distribution
- rouletteSpinning wheel wager
- diceMarked cubes for chance
- luckChance affecting outcomes
- flukeChance stroke of luck
serendipity · coincidence · probability · odds · stochastic · aleatory · fortuitous · incalculable
Lacking systematic arrangement
- chaoticTotally without arrangement
- erraticLacking regularity or consistency
- scattershotBroadly unfocused approach
- hit-or-missLacking consistent results
unsystematic · aimless · slapdash · careless · jumbled · disordered · messy · indiscriminate
Without advance preparation
- improvisedCreated without prior planning
- unplannedNot arranged beforehand
- spur-of-the-momentDone without advance planning
- offhandCasually unrehearsed
ad-lib · extemporaneous · unpremeditated · impulsive · instinctive · unrehearsed · unscripted · off-the-cuff
Subject to sudden changes
- whimsicalPlayfully fanciful or erratic
- subjectiveBased on personal perspective
- biasedUnfairly favoring one side
- unjustNot fair or right
unfair · discriminatory · preferential · selective · partial · prejudiced · unequal · inequitable
lottery
Randomized prize distribution
fluke · serendipity · coincidence · probability · odds · stochastic · aleatory · fortuitous · incalculable · unforeseeable
disorganized
Lacking systematic arrangement
- chaoticTotally without arrangement
- erraticLacking regularity or consistency
- scattershotBroadly unfocused approach
hit-or-miss · unsystematic · aimless · slapdash · careless · jumbled · disordered · messy · indiscriminate · unstructured
impromptu
Without advance preparation
- improvisedCreated without prior planning
- unplannedNot arranged beforehand
- spur-of-the-momentDone without advance planning
offhand · ad-lib · extemporaneous · unpremeditated · impulsive · instinctive · unrehearsed · unscripted · off-the-cuff · snap
capricious
Subject to sudden changes
- whimsicalPlayfully fanciful or erratic
- subjectiveBased on personal perspective
- biasedUnfairly favoring one side
unjust · unfair · discriminatory · preferential · selective · partial · prejudiced · unequal · inequitable · favoritism
at randomsystematically
In organized, planned fashion
deliberately · intentionally · by design · methodically · purposefully
at randomin order
Arranged as intended
sequentially · predictably · regularly · uniformly · consistently
random, randomly, randomness, rand, randomized, randomize, nonrandom, randomization, randomizing