choppy

/ˈtʃɑpi/

/ˈtʃɒpi/

Other forms: choppier; choppily; choppiest

When water is choppy, it's wind-blown and rippling with waves. It's tricky for a beginner to sail in a choppy lake.

Choppy usually describes what happens to the surface of a body of water during a storm. Strong wind blowing across a bay, for example, turns the water choppy and rough. Something with a jerky, abrupt way of moving or flowing is also choppy, whether it's a piece of music or a filmed scene in a movie. In the 1600s, a stormy sea was described as chopping, which had changed to choppy by about 1830.

Definitions of choppy

1. adjective

   rough with small waves
   “choppy seas”

   synonyms:

   stormy

   (especially of weather) affected or characterized by storms or commotion
2. adjective

   marked by abrupt transitions
   “choppy prose”

   synonyms: jerky

   sudden

   happening without warning or in a short space of time