Nearby Words
| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | without plan or organization |
| Synonyms: | accidental, aimless, all over the map, any old way, any which way, arbitrary, careless, casual, chance, designless, desultory, devil-may-care, disorderly, disorganized, erratic, fluke, helter-skelter, hit-or-miss, incidental, indiscriminate, irregular, loose, offhand, purposeless, random, reckless, slapdash, slipshod, spontaneous, sudden, unconcerned, unconscious, unconsidered, uncoordinated, unexpected, unmethodical, unorganized, unpremeditated, unsystematic, unthinking, willy-nilly |
| Antonyms: | careful, designed, intentional, methodical, organized, planned, straight, systematic, thought-out |
| Main Entry: | anyhow |
| Part of Speech: | adverb |
| Definition: | by any means |
| Synonyms: | about, any which way, anyway, around, at any rate, at random, haphazard, haphazardly, helter-skelter, however, in any case, in any respect, in any way, in either way, in one way or another, in whatever way, nevertheless, random, randomly, regardless, under any circumstances, whatever happens, willy-nilly |
| Main Entry: | chance |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | fate, luck |
| Synonyms: | accident, advantage, adventure, bad luck, break, cast, casualty, coincidence, contingency, destination, destiny, doom, even chance, fluke, fortuity, fortune, future, gamble, good luck, hap, haphazard, happening, hazard, heads or tails, hit*, in the cards, kismet, lot, lottery, luck out, lucky break, misfortune, occurrence, odds, outcome, peradventure, peril, providence, risk, stroke of luck, throw of the dice, toss-up, turn of the cards, way the cookie crumbles, wheel of fortune |
| Antonyms: | aim, design, plan, scheme |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | contingent |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | conditional; possible |
| Synonyms: | accidental, casual, chance, controlled by, dependent, fluky, fortuitous, haphazard, incidental, likely, odd, probable, probably, random, subject to, unanticipated, uncertain, unexpected, unforeseeable, unforeseen, unpredictable |
| Antonyms: | certain, definite, real, sure, truthful, unconditional |
| Main Entry: | cursory |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | casual, hasty |
| Synonyms: | brief, careless, depthless, desultory, fast, half-assed, half-baked, haphazard, hit or miss, hurried, offhand, passing, perfunctory, quick, random, rapid, shallow, short, sketchy, slapdash, slight, sloppy, speedy, summary, superficial, swift, uncritical |
| Notes: | cursory means 'superficial'; cursorial is 'pertaining or adapted to running' |
| Antonyms: | complete, meticulous, painstaking, perfect, thorough, unhurried |
| Main Entry: | desultory |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | random |
| Synonyms: | aimless, chance, chaotic, deviating, erratic, haphazard, orderless, rambling, unmethodical, unstable, unsystematic, without purpose |
| Main Entry: | disorganized |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | unmethodical; messed up |
| Synonyms: | chaotic, confused, disordered, disorderly, haphazard, jumbled, mixed up, muddled, screwed up, shuffled, unsystematic |
| Notes: | disorganized means 'not properly planned and controlled; (of a person) unable to plan one's activities efficiently'; unorganized means 'not organized' |
| Antonyms: | methodical, neat, ordered, organized, planned, regulated, systematic, systematized, tidy |
| Main Entry: | fitful |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | irregular, sporadic |
| Synonyms: | bits and pieces, broken, capricious, catchy*, changeable, desultory, disturbed, erratic, flickering, fluctuating, haphazard, herky-jerky, hit-or-miss, impulsive, inconstant, intermittent, interrupted, on-again-off-again, periodic, random, recurrent, restive, restless, shifting, spasmodic, spastic, spotty, unstable, variable |
| Antonyms: | constant, continuous, even, regular, undisturbed, unvarying |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | fortuitous |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | lucky, accidental |
| Synonyms: | arbitrary, casual, chance, contingent, fluke, fluky, fortunate, haphazard, happy, incidental, luck in, luck out, lucky-dog, odd, providential, random, serendipitous, unforeseen, unplanned |
| Notes: | accidental stresses chance; fortuitous so strongly suggests chance that it often connotes absence of cause aleatory refers to the present or future while fortuitous is more about past events fortunate means having unexpected good fortune or luck; fortuitous means happening by chance or coming or occurring by accident or without any known cause |
| Antonyms: | calculated, deliberate, designed, intentional, planned, unlucky |
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
