Erratic vs Variable - What's the difference?

Erratic is a related term of variable.

As nouns the difference between erratic and variable

is that erratic is (geology) a rock moved from one location to another, usually by a glacier while variable is variable.

As an adjective erratic

is unsteady, random; prone to unexpected changes; not consistent.

erratic

English

Alternative forms

* erratick, erraticke, erratique (obsolete)

Adjective

(en adjective)

unsteady, random; prone to unexpected changes; not consistent

Henry has been getting erratic scores on his tests: 40% last week, but 98% this week.

Deviating from the common course in opinion or conduct; eccentric; odd.

erratic conduct

Derived terms

* erratically

Antonyms

* consistent

Noun

(en noun)

(geology) A rock moved from one location to another, usually by a glacier.

* 2003 , (Bill Bryson), A Short History of Nearly Everything , BCA 2003, p. 372:

The term for a displaced boulder is an erratic , but in the nineteenth century the expression seemed to apply more often to the theories than to the rocks.

Anything that has erratic characteristics.

Anagrams

variable

English

(wikipedia variable)

Adjective

(en adjective)

Able to vary.

variable''' winds or seasons; a '''variable quantity

Likely to vary.

* Shakespeare

Lest that thy love prove likewise variable .

Marked by diversity or difference.

(mathematics) Having no fixed quantitative value.

(biology) Tending to deviate from a normal or recognized type.

Synonyms

* (able to vary) alterable, flexible, changeable, mutable * (likely to vary) fickle, fluctuating, inconstant, shifting, unstable, unsteady * (marked by diversity or difference) varying * aberrant

Antonyms

* (able to vary) constant, invariable, immutable, unalterable, unchangeable * (likely to vary) constant, invariable, immutable, unchangeable * (marked by diversity or difference) unchanging * constant, invariable

Derived terms

* variability * variableness

Noun

(en noun)

Something that is .

Something whose value may be dictated or discovered.

* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Katie L. Burke

, title= In the News , volume=101, issue=3, page=193, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola. A recent study explored the ecological variables that may contribute to bats’ propensity to harbor such zoonotic diseases by comparing them with another order of common reservoir hosts: rodents.}}

(mathematics) A quantity that may assume any one of a set of values.

(mathematics) A symbol representing a variable.

(programming) A named memory location in which a program can store intermediate results and from which it can read them.

(astronomy) A variable star.

(nautical) A shifting wind, or one that varies in force.

(nautical, in the plural) Those parts of the sea where a steady wind is not expected, especially the parts between the trade-wind belts.

Synonyms

* (something that is variable) changeable * (something whose value may be dictated or discovered) parameter * variable quantity

Antonyms

* (something that is variable) constant, invariable

Hyponyms

* See also

Derived terms

* bound variable * categorical variable * continuous variable * dependent variable * discrete variable * flow variable * free variable * global variable * independent variable * instance variable * interval variable * local variable * member variable * metasyntactic variable * nominal variable * ordinal variable * ratio variable * stock variable * variable star * variably * vary

External links

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