| Main Entry: | |
| 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: | episodic |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | intermittent; composed of several tales |
| Synonyms: | anecdotal, digressive, disconnected, discursive, disjointed, incidental, irregular, occasional, picaresque, rambling, roundabout, segmented, soap opera, sporadic, wandering |
| Antonyms: | connected, lasting, permanent, regular, unbroken |
| 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: | incidental |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | related; minor |
| Synonyms: | accidental, accompanying, adventitious, ancillary, attendant, by-the-way, casual, chance, circumstantial, coincidental, concomitant, concurrent, contingent, contributing, contributory, fluke, fortuitous, irregular, nonessential, occasional, odd, random, secondary, subordinate, subsidiary |
| Antonyms: | basic, essential, fundamental, important, vital |
| Main Entry: | infrequent |
| 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: | 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: | odd |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | miscellaneous, various |
| Synonyms: | accidental, casual, chance, contingent, different, fluky, fortuitous, fragmentary, incidental, irregular, occasional, odd-lot, periodic, random, seasonal, sundry, varied |
| Antonyms: | like, similar, unvaried |
| 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 |