erratic
Americanadjective
-
deviating from the usual or proper course in conduct or opinion; eccentric.
erratic behavior.
- Synonyms:
- capricious, unstable, unpredictable
- Antonyms:
- stable, regular, consistent
-
inconsistent, irregular, or unpredictable.
Many factors affect purchasing power, such as inflation and erratic swings in the stock market.
-
having no certain or definite course or pattern; wandering; not fixed.
erratic winds.
-
Geology. noting or pertaining to a boulder or the like carried by glacial ice and deposited some distance from its place of origin.
-
(of a lichen) having no attachment to the surface on which it grows.
noun
-
an erratic or eccentric person.
-
Geology. an erratic boulder or the like.
adjective
-
irregular in performance, behaviour, or attitude; inconsistent and unpredictable
-
having no fixed or regular course; wandering
noun
-
a piece of rock that differs in composition, shape, etc, from the rock surrounding it, having been transported from its place of origin, esp by glacial action
-
an erratic person or thing
Other Word Forms
- erratically adverb
- erraticism noun
- nonerratic adjective
- unerratic adjective
Etymology
Origin of erratic
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Latin errāticus, equivalent to errāt(us) (past participle of errāre “to make a mistake, err” ( err ) + -icus -ic
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But the erratic Arctic temperatures plunged again to more than – 50°F. Three of the crew members returned barely coherent; the other four were unable to move, stranded miles away from the ship.
From Literature
Europe’s regulatory machine is slow and bureaucratic, but for long-term decisions, slow and predictable is preferable to fast and erratic.
Funding has often been erratic and delayed, but the deeper problem is that our current weapons were never designed for mass production.
World number one Scottie Scheffler crept back up the leaderboard with a second round of 66, putting him six-under for the tournament after an erratic opening round of 72.
From Barron's
Scheffler was at even par after an erratic round that included three birdies and three bogeys.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
