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Continual vs Sporadic - What's the difference?

continual | sporadic |

As adjectives the difference between continual and sporadic

is that continual is recurring in steady, rapid succession while sporadic is rare and scattered in occurrence.

continual

English

Alternative forms

* continuall (obsolete)

Adjective

(-)
  • Recurring in steady, rapid succession.
  • (proscribed) Seemingly continuous; appearing to have no end or interruption.
  • (proscribed) Forming a continuous series.

    • Usage notes

    In careful usage, continual refers to repeated'' actions “continual objections”, while continuous refers to ''uninterrupted'' actions or objects “continuous flow”, “played music continuously from dusk to dawn”. However, this distinction is not observed in informal usage, a noted example being the magic spell name “continual light” (unbroken light), in the game ''.

    Related terms

    * continuance * continuation * continue * continuous * continuum

    References

    External links

    * *

    Anagrams

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    sporadic

    English

    Alternative forms

    * sporadick

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Rare and scattered in occurrence.
  • Exhibiting random behavior; patternless.

    • Derived terms

    * sporadic E layer

    Related terms

    * sporadical * sporadically * sporadicalness

    Anagrams

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