Intermittent vs Erratic - What's the difference?
intermittent | erratic |
Stopping and starting at intervals; coming after a particular time span; not steady or constant
(specifically, geology, of a body of water) Existing only for certain seasons; that is, being dry for part of the year.
unsteady, random; prone to unexpected changes; not consistent
Deviating from the common course in opinion or conduct; eccentric; odd.
(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:
Anything that has erratic characteristics.
As adjectives the difference between intermittent and erratic
is that intermittent is stopping and starting at intervals; coming after a particular time span; not steady or constant while erratic is unsteady, random; prone to unexpected changes; not consistent.As nouns the difference between intermittent and erratic
is that intermittent is (medicine|dated) an intermittent fever or disease while erratic is (geology) a rock moved from one location to another, usually by a glacier.intermittent
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- The day was cloudy with intermittent rain.
- Intermittent bugs are most difficult to reproduce.
- The area has many intermittent lakes and streams.
Derived terms
* intermittentlyerratic
English
Alternative forms
* erratick, erraticke, erratique (obsolete)Adjective
(en adjective)- Henry has been getting erratic scores on his tests: 40% last week, but 98% this week.
- erratic conduct
Derived terms
* erraticallyAntonyms
* consistentNoun
(en noun)- 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.