erratic

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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.

erratic

(ɪˈrætɪk)

adj

1. irregular in performance, behaviour, or attitude; inconsistent and unpredictable

2. having no fixed or regular course; wandering

3. (Geological Science) a piece of rock that differs in composition, shape, etc, from the rock surrounding it, having been transported from its place of origin, esp by glacial action

4. an erratic person or thing

[C14: from Latin errāticus, from errāre to wander, err]

erˈratically adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

er•rat•ic

(ɪˈræt ɪk)

adj.

1. inconsistent or changeable in behavior; unpredictable.

2. deviating from the usual or proper course; eccentric.

3. having no certain or definite course; wandering; not fixed.

4. (of a boulder, etc.) carried by glacial ice and deposited some distance from its place of origin.

5. an erratic or eccentric person.

6. an erratic boulder or the like.

[1325–75; Middle English < Latin errāticus=errā(re) to wander, err + -ticus adj. suffix]

er•rat′i•cal•ly, adv.

er•rat′i•cism, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.	1.	erratic - liable to sudden unpredictable change; "erratic behavior"; "fickle weather"; "mercurial twists of temperament"; "a quicksilver character, cool and willful at one moment, utterly fragile the next" mercurial, quicksilver, fickle changeful, changeable - such that alteration is possible; having a marked tendency to change; "changeable behavior"; "changeable moods"; "changeable prices"
	2.	erratic - having no fixed course; "an erratic comet"; "his life followed a wandering course"; "a planetary vagabond" planetary, wandering unsettled - not settled or established; "an unsettled lifestyle"
	3.	erratic - likely to perform unpredictably; "erratic winds are the bane of a sailor"; "a temperamental motor; sometimes it would start and sometimes it wouldn't"; "that beautiful but temperamental instrument the flute"- Osbert Lancaster temperamental undependable, unreliable - not worthy of reliance or trust; "in the early 1950s computers were large and expensive and unreliable"; "an undependable assistant"

erratic

adjective unpredictable, variable, unstable, irregular, shifting, eccentric, abnormal, inconsistent, uneven, unreliable, wayward, capricious, desultory, changeable, aberrant, fitful, inconstant Argentina's erratic inflation rates
certain, natural, straight, normal, regular, stable, constant, steady, consistent, reliable, predictable, dependable, unchanging, invariable, undeviating

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

erratic

adjective

1. Without a fixed or regular course:

devious, stray, wandering.

2. Lacking consistency or regularity in quality or performance:

inconsistent, patchy, spotty, uneven, unsteady, variable.

3. Following no predictable pattern:

capricious, changeable, fantastic, fantastical, fickle, freakish, inconsistent, inconstant, mercurial, temperamental, ticklish, uncertain, unpredictable, unstable, unsteady, variable, volatile, whimsical.

4. Deviating from the customary:

bizarre, cranky, curious, eccentric, freakish, idiosyncratic, odd, outlandish, peculiar, quaint, queer, quirky, singular, strange, unnatural, unusual, weird.

Slang: kooky, screwball.

British Slang: rum, rummy.

Translations

مُتَقَلِّب الأطْوار، شاذ، شارِد

tilfældiguregelmæssig

erratisch unstet

erratique irrégulier

reikull, óstöîugur

erratico strambo

nepatikimasnereguliariainereguliarus

kļūdainsnepastāvīgsneregulārs

uberegnelig

nespoľahlivý

düzensiz kararsız

不稳定的反复无常的

erratic

[ɪˈrætɪk] ADJ [person] (by temperament) → imprevisible, voluble; (in performance) → irregular; [behaviour, mood] → imprevisible, variable; [movement, pattern, pulse, breathing] → irregular; [results, progress, performance] → desigual, poco uniforme
police officers noticed his erratic driving → los policías notaron que conducía de modo irregular
I work erratic hours → tengo un horario de trabajo 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

erratic

[ɪˈrætɪk] adj [behaviour] → fantasque, inconstant(e); [driving] → imprévisible; [course, movement, flight] → irrégulier/ière

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

erratic

adj → unberechenbar; progress, pattern, rhythm, pulse, breathing → ungleichmäßig; performance → variabel; movement → unkontrolliert; to be (very) erratic (sales, figures) → (stark) schwanken; erratic mood swings → starke Stimmungsschwankungen pl; his erratic driving → sein unberechenbarer Fahrstil; his work is rather erratic → er ist in seiner Arbeit recht wechselhaft; public transport here is very erratic → die öffentlichen Verkehrsmittel verkehren hier nur sehr unregelmäßig; we work erratic hours → wir haben unregelmäßige Arbeitszeiten

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

erratic

[ɪˈrætɪk]

1. adj (person, conduct, opinions, mood) → incostante, imprevedibile; (results) → irregolare, discontinuo/a; (driving) → irregolare (Geol) → erratico/a

2. n (Geol) → masso 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

er·rat·ic

a. errático-a, que no sigue un curso o ritmo estable.

References in classic literature ?

I have myself published separate volumes on the 'Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs;' on the 'Volcanic Islands visited during the Voyage of the Beagle;' and on the 'Geology of South America.' The sixth volume of the 'Geological Transactions' contains two papers of mine on the Erratic Boulders and Volcanic Phenomena of South America.

View in context

In the hero's erratic march from poverty in the first act, to wealth and triumph in the final one, in which he forgives all the enemies that he has left, he was assisted by the gallery, which applauded his generous and noble sentiments and confounded the speeches of his opponents by making irrelevant but very sharp remarks.

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THE scene must follow my erratic movements--the scene must close on London for a while, and open in Edinburgh.

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Hartung to inquire whether he had observed erratic boulders on these islands, and he answered that he had found large fragments of granite and other rocks, which do not occur in the archipelago.

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She could not follow the flights of his mind, and when his brain got beyond her, she deemed him erratic. Nobody else's brain ever got beyond her.

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Slowly she swung from her course, circling back toward us in an erratic and pitiful manner.

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Fear-maddened horses still menaced them with their erratic bolting from one side of the enclosure to the other.

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The ancient obediently dipped his paddle and started pottering an erratic course in the general direction of the cluster of lights that marked the Makambo.

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Every being possessing life and liberty had been afoot, since the first streak of grey had lighted the east; and even the youngest of the erratic brood seemed conscious that the moment had arrived, when circumstances were about to transpire that might leave a lasting impression on the wild fortunes of their semi-barbarous condition.

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These elevated summits consist of rounded cones, between which the soil is bestrewn with erratic blocks of stone and gravelly bowlders.

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And then, in obedience to some whim of his erratic spirit, Red-Eye let the old man alone and passed on and recovered the stick.

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Other astronomers have seen in these inexplicable rays a kind of moraines, rows of erratic blocks, which had been thrown up at the period of Tycho's formation.

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