sporadic
Happening at random
Sporadic describes something that occurs at irregular intervals—unpredictable, scattered, not continuous.
Sporadic gunfire breaks out here and there.
Sporadic attendance means showing up inconsistently.
The word suggests enough occurrences to notice a pattern, but without regularity or frequency: We had sporadic contact over the years.
Seldom found or seen
- uncommonSeldom occurring or found
- occasionalHappening at intervals
- seldomOn few occasions
- scarceIn short supply
few · isolated · sparse · intermittent · periodic · episodic · irregular · noncontinuous
Deviating from normal patterns
- unevenNot smooth or balanced
- fitfulIrregular and spasmodic
- patchyIrregular in coverage
- spottyIrregular and unreliable
choppy · unsteady · on-and-off · spasmodic · fluctuating · inconsistent · variable · unstable
Lacking organization or plan
- unpredictableCannot be anticipated
- chanceLikelihood of occurrence
- incidentalMinor and unplanned
- accidentalOccurring by chance
hit-or-miss · arbitrary · unplanned · desultory · aimless · indiscriminate · unsystematic · disorganized
rare
Seldom found or seen
- uncommonSeldom occurring or found
- occasionalHappening at intervals
- seldomOn few occasions
scarce · few · isolated · sparse · intermittent · periodic · episodic · irregular · noncontinuous · discontinuous
irregular
Deviating from normal patterns
spotty · choppy · unsteady · on-and-off · spasmodic · fluctuating · inconsistent · variable · unstable · broken
haphazard
Lacking organization or plan
- unpredictableCannot be anticipated
- chanceLikelihood of occurrence
- incidentalMinor and unplanned
accidental · hit-or-miss · arbitrary · unplanned · desultory · aimless · indiscriminate · unsystematic · disorganized · helter-skelter
dispersed
Spread widely apart
peppered · strewn · patchy · isolated · diffuse · sparse · distributed · disseminated · separated · far-flung
- timesecond, minute, hour, day, seconds
- commitment levelscommitted, dedicated, devoted, loyal, faithful
- intermittentintermittent, periodic, on-off, discontinuous, occasional
- habit wordsdaily, regular, routine, habitual, chronic
- unevenuneven, irregular, unequal, nonuniform, asymmetric
- time wordsminute, hour, day, now, soon
sporadicregular
Occurring at fixed intervals
consistent · steady · constant · continuous · frequent
sporadicconstant
Fixed, unvarying quantity
continuous · continual · uninterrupted · persistent · sustained
sporadicwidespread
Existing across many places
prevalent · ubiquitous · common · abundant · pervasive
- sporadic outbreaksInfrequent, scattered disease episodes