sporadic

/spəˈrædɪk/

/spəˈrædɪk/

Sporadic is an adjective that you can use to refer to something that happens or appears often, but not constantly or regularly. The mail carrier comes every day but the plumber's visits are sporadic — he comes as needed.

A specialized use of sporadic is to describe a disease that appears only occasionally in random cases, and is therefore not an epidemic. Mostly, though, you'll hear this word used to describe anything that happens occasionally, like your family's sporadic trips to visit your distant cousins in Ohio or the sporadic bake sales your science club sponsors when it's low on funds. English borrowed the word sporadic from Greek sporadikós, "scattered."

Definitions of sporadic

1. adjective

   recurring in scattered and irregular or unpredictable instances
   synonyms:

   fitful, spasmodic

   occurring in spells and often abruptly

   intermittent

   stopping and starting at irregular intervals

   occasional, periodic

   recurring or reappearing from time to time

   irregular, unpredictable

   not occurring at expected times

   isolated, stray

   not close together in time

   discontinuous, noncontinuous

   not continuing without interruption in time or space

   infrequent

   not frequent; not occurring regularly or at short intervals

   antonyms:

   continual

   occurring without interruption; chiefly restricted to what recurs regularly or frequently in a prolonged and closely spaced series

   insistent, repetitive

   repetitive and persistent

   running

   continually repeated over a period of time

   perennial, recurrent, repeated

   recurring again and again

   persistent, relentless, unrelenting

   never-ceasing

   recurring, revenant

   coming back