| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | haphazard, chance |
| Synonyms: | accidental, adventitious, aimless, arbitrary, casual, contingent, designless, desultory, driftless, fluky, fortuitous, hit-or-miss, incidental, indiscriminate, irregular, objectless, odd, promiscuous, purposeless, slapdash, spot, stray, unaimed, unconsidered, unplanned, unpremeditated |
| Antonyms: | definite, methodical, particular, specific, systematic |
| Main Entry: | aimless |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | having no goal |
| Synonyms: | accidental, any which way, bits-and-pieces, blind, capricious, careless, casual, chance, desultory, directionless, drifting, erratic, fanciful, fickle, fits and starts, flighty, fortuitous, frivolous, goalless, haphazard, heedless, hit-or-miss, indecisive, indiscriminate, irresolute, objectless, pointless, purposeless, random, shiftless, stray, thoughtless, unavailing, undirected, unguided, unplanned, unpredictable, vagrant, wandering, wanton, wayward |
| Antonyms: | determined, directed, goal-oriented, motivated, pointed, purposeful, resolute |
| 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: | arbitrary |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | whimsical, chance |
| Synonyms: | approximate, capricious, discretionary, erratic, fanciful, frivolous, inconsistent, injudicious, irrational, irresponsible, offhand, optional, random, subjective, supercilious, superficial, unaccountable, unreasonable, unscientific, wayward, willful |
| Antonyms: | circumspect, rational, reasonable, reasoned, supported |
| 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: | diffuse |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | wordy |
| Synonyms: | circumlocutory, copious, diffusive, digressive, discursive, dull, exuberant, lavish, lengthy, long, long-winded, loose, meandering, palaverous, profuse, prolix, rambling, random, redundant, vague, verbose, waffling, windy |
| Antonyms: | abbreviated, abridged, brief, short, succinct |
| 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 |
| 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 |