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in frequent
| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | not happening regularly |
| Synonyms: | exceptional, few, few and far between, isolated, limited, meager, occasional, odd, rare, scant, scanty, scarce, scattered, seldom, semioccasional, sparse, spasmodic, sporadic, stray, uncommon, unusual |
| Antonyms: | common, frequent, often, usual |
| Main Entry: | deficient |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | imperfect, inadequate |
| Synonyms: | amiss, bad, damaged, defective, exiguous, faulty, flawed, found wanting, impaired, incomplete, inferior, infrequent, injured, insufficient, lacking, marred, meager, not cut out for, not enough, not make it, not up to scratch, outta gas, rare, scant, scanty*, scarce, second fiddle, second string, short, shy, sketchy, skimpy, third string, unassembled, unequal, unfinished, unsatisfactory, wanting, weak |
| Notes: | defective means having a defect or fault, while deficient means inadequate or lacking in amount or degree |
| Antonyms: | adequate, ample, enough, excessive, faultless, flawless, perfect, satisfactory, sufficient, superfluous |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | exceptional |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | irregular |
| Synonyms: | aberrant, abnormal, anomalous, atypical, deviant, distinct, extraordinary, inconsistent, infrequent, notable, noteworthy, odd, peculiar, phenomenal, rare, remarkable, scarce, singular, special, strange, uncommon, uncustomary, unheard-of, unimaginable, unique, unordinary, unprecedented, unthinkable, unusual |
| Notes: | egregious means conspicuously and outrageously bad or reprehensible; exceptional means well above average or surpassing what is common or usual or expected exceptional means 'exceeding the ordinary or expected'; exceptionable refers to something 'liable to objection or rejection' |
| Antonyms: | common, conventional, expected, general, normal, ordinary, regular, unexceptional, usual |
| Main Entry: | few |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | hardly any |
| Synonyms: | exiguous, few and far between, imperceptible, inconsequential, inconsiderable, infrequent, insufficient, lean, less, meager, middling, minor, minority, minute, negligible, not many, not too many, occasional, paltry, petty, piddling, rare, scant, scanty, scarce, scarcely any, scattered, scattering, seldom, semioccasional, short, skimpy, slender, slight, slim, some, sparse, sporadic, stingy, straggling, thin, trifling, uncommon, unfrequent, widely spaced |
| Antonyms: | many, much |
| Main Entry: | insufficient |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | not enough; lacking |
| Synonyms: | bereft, defective, deficient, destitute, devoid, drained, dry, failing, faulty, imperfect, inadequate, incapable, incommensurate, incompetent, incomplete, infrequent, meager, minus, out of, poor, rare, scant, scarce, short, short of, shy, thin*, too little too late, unample, unfinished, unfitted, unqualified, unsatisfactory, wanting |
| Antonyms: | adequate, ample, enough, sufficient |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | intermittent |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | irregular, sporadic |
| Synonyms: | alternate, arrested, broken, by bits and pieces, checked, cyclic, cyclical, discontinuing, discontinuous, epochal, every other, fitful, here and there, hit-or-miss, infrequent, interrupted, isochronal, isochronous, iterant, iterative, metrical, now and then, occasional, on and off, periodic, periodical, punctuated, recurrent, recurring, rhythmic, rhythmical, seasonal, serial, shifting, spasmodic, stop-and-go |
| Antonyms: | constant, continual, continuing, perpetual, regular |
| Main Entry: | irregular |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | random, variable |
| Synonyms: | aberrant, aimless, capricious, casual, changeable, designless, desultory, disconnected, discontinuous, eccentric, erratic, faltering, fitful, fluctuating, fragmentary, haphazard, hit-or-miss, inconstant, indiscriminate, infrequent, intermittent, jerky, nonuniform, occasional, out of order, patchy, purposeless, recurrent, shaky, shifting, spasmodic, sporadic, uncertain, unconsidered, uneven, unmethodical, unpunctual, unreliable, unsettled, unsteady, unsystematic, up and down, weaving |
| Antonyms: | conventional, methodical, regular, systematic |
| Main Entry: | occasional |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | irregular, sporadic |
| Synonyms: | casual, desultory, especial, exceptional, exclusive, few, incidental, infrequent, intermittent, not habitual, odd, off and on, particular, random, rare, scarce, seldom, special, specific, uncommon, unfrequent, unusual |
| Antonyms: | constant, frequent, regular, steady, usual |
| Main Entry: | periodic |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | at fixed intervals |
| Synonyms: | alternate, annual, at various times, centennial, cyclic, cyclical, daily, epochal, every once in a while, every so often, fluctuating, hourly, infrequent, intermittent, isochronal, isochronous, monthly, occasional, on certain occasions, on-again-off-again, orbital, perennial, periodical, recurrent, recurring, regular, repeated, rhythmic, routine, seasonal, serial, spasmodic, sporadic, weekly, yearly |
| Notes: | periodic means happening or recurring at regular intervals; sporadic means occurring singly or occasionally or in scattered instances |
| Antonyms: | constant, continual, irregular, lasting, permanent, sporadic, variable |
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.
