er·rat·ic

(ĭ-răt′ĭk)

adj.

1. Having no fixed or regular course; wandering: the erratic flight of a moth.

2. Lacking consistency, regularity, or uniformity: an erratic heartbeat.

3. Deviating from the customary course in conduct or opinion; eccentric: erratic behavior.

n. Geology

A rock fragment that has been transported by ice to a location other than its place of origin and that may range in size from a pebble to a large boulder.

[Middle English erratik, from Old French erratique, from Latin errāticus, from errāre, to wander; see ers- in Indo-European roots.]

er·rat′i·cal·ly adv.

er·rat′i·cism (-ĭ-sĭz′əm) n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adv.

erratically - in an erratic unpredictable manner; "economic changes are proceeding erratically"

unpredictably

Translations

تائِه، شُرود

flatterhaft unstet

αλλοπρόσαλλα

irrégulièrement

óreglulega, ójafnt

in modo strambo

ujevnt

düzensiz bir şekilde

反复无常地

erratically

[ɪˈrætɪkəlɪ] ADV [behave] → de forma imprevisible; [work, drive, play] → de modo irregular; [breathe] → de forma irregular, irregularmente
his heart was beating erratically → su corazón latía irregularmente or de forma irregular

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

erratically

[ɪˈrætɪkli] adv [drive] → de manière imprévisible

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

erratically

adv behave, drive → unberechenbar; to work erratically (person) → ungleichmäßig arbeiten; (machine) → unregelmäßig arbeiten; the erratically brilliant hockey team → die hervorragende, jedoch sehr wechselhaft spielende Hockey-Mannschaft

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

erratically

[ɪˈrætɪk/əlɪ] adv → in modo erratico

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

erratic

(iˈrӕtik) adjective

inclined to be irregular; not dependable. His behaviour/work is erratic.

erˈratically adverb

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Scarcely had I seen them than a volley of shots was directed at me, and with the almost unfailing accuracy of their aim my little craft was instantly a ruined wreck, sinking erratically to the ground.

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While he waited among the branches and foliage of a near-by tree he searched the village constantly with his keen eyes, and twice he circled it, sniffing the vagrant breezes which puffed erratically from first one point of the compass and then another.

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All the balance of that long day Carthoris crawled erratically through the still air, the bow of the flier sinking lower and lower, and the list to port becoming more and more alarming, until at last, near dark, he was floating almost bowdown, his harness buckled to a heavy deck ring to keep him from being precipitated to the ground below.

View in context

The corridor wound more erratically the farther he advanced.

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Hall put Billy to work on the potato patch--a matter of three acres which the poet farmed erratically to the huge delight of his crowd.

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But the nets, fastened to the bottom of the Mary Rebecca well aft, held her stern into the wind, and she continued to plough on, though somewhat erratically.

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In the following winter, after wandering somewhat erratically through Stresa, Genoa, and Spezia, he landed in Nice, where the climate so happily promoted his creative powers that he wrote the third part of "Zarathustra".

View in context

THE Garda chief was involved in the arrest of a suspected drink-driver after he spotted a car being driven erratically.

Garda chief helps arrest 'drink-driver'

Sergeant Geoff Smith, from Johnstone, Renfrew and the villages community policing team, said:"We received a number of reports of a man wearing a balaclava driving a JCB dumper truck erratically in the Erskine and Bishopton areas.

Police hunt for masked thief after dumper is stolen

Coke, 42, had been spotted driving erratically and at speed in Icknield Street, Hockley, in the early hours of January 7.

Drink driver jailed after loaded gun found under seat

Officers intervened when they spotted the youngster's mum driving erratically because she feared her daughter was choking, a GMP inspector said.

Armed police save 'choking' girl

A DRINK-driver has been fined after driving "erratically" on the wrong side of the road.

Drink-driver drove on the wrong side