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erratic

adj
/ɪˈɹætɪk/CA/əˈɹɛtək/

Etymology

From Middle English erratik, erratyk, from Latin errāticus; compare Old French erratique.

  1. derived from errāticus
  2. inherited from erratik

Definitions

  1. Unsteady, random

    Unsteady, random; prone to unexpected changes; not consistent.

    • Henry has been getting erratic scores on his tests: 40% last week, but 98% this week.
    • The V-2's directional system was notoriously erratic. In May 1947, a V-2 launched from White Sands Proving Ground headed south instead of north, missing downtown Juarez, Mexico, by 3 miles.

  2. Deviating from normal opinions or actions

    Deviating from normal opinions or actions; eccentric; odd.

    • erratic conduct

  3. A rock moved from one location to another, usually by a glacier.

    • The term for a displaced boulder is an erratic, but in the nineteenth century the expression seemed to apply more often to the theories than to the rocks.
  4. ›+ 1 more definition

    1. Anything that has erratic characteristics.

The neighborhood

Derived

erratical, erratically, erraticism, erraticity, erraticness, glacial erratic, inerratic, knight-erratic, nonerratic, unerratic

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at erratic. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01erratic02glacier03year-round04year05comet06volatile

A definitional loop anchored at erratic. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

6 hops · closes at erratic

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA