What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Random vs Conjectural - What's the difference?

random | conjectural |

As nouns the difference between random and conjectural

is that random is a roving motion; course without definite direction; lack of rule or method; chance while conjectural is something that is conjectural; a conjecture.

As adjectives the difference between random and conjectural

is that random is having unpredictable outcomes and, in the ideal case, all outcomes equally probable; resulting from such selection; lacking statistical correlation while conjectural is in the nature of a conjecture, or based on a conjecture.

random

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A roving motion; course without definite direction; lack of rule or method; chance.
  • * (1591-1674)
  • *:Counsels, when they fly / At random , sometimes hit most happily.
  • *Sir (Walter Scott) (1771-1832)
  • *:O, many a shaft, at random sent, / Finds mark the archer little meant!
  • (label) Speed, full speed; impetuosity, force.
  • *:
  • *:they were messagers vnto kyng Ban & Bors sent from kynge Arthur / therfor said the viij knyghtes ye shalle dye or be prysoners / for we ben knyghtes of kyng Claudas And therwith two of them dressid theire sperys / and Vlfyus and Brastias dressid theire speres and ranne to gyder with grete raundon
  • *(Edward Hall) (1497-1547)
  • *:For courageously the two kings newly fought with great random and force.
  • *1624 , John Smith, Generall Historie , in Kupperman 1988, page 144:
  • *:Fortie yards will they shoot levell, or very neare the marke, and 120 is their best at Random .
  • :
  • :
  • (label) The direction of a rake-vein.
  • :(Raymond)

    • Synonyms

    * force, momentum, speed, velocity * (unimportant person) nobody, nonentity

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Having unpredictable outcomes and, in the ideal case, all outcomes equally probable; resulting from such selection; lacking statistical correlation.
    • The flip of a fair coin is purely random .
    The newspaper conducted a random sample of five hundred American teenagers.
    The results of the field survey look random by several different measures.
  • * July 18 2012 , Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Rises [http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-dark-knight-rises-review-batman,82624/]
    • Where the Joker preys on our fears of random , irrational acts of terror, Bane has an all-consuming, dictatorial agenda that’s more stable and permanent, a New World Order that’s been planned out with the precision of a military coup.
  • (mathematics) Of or relating to probability distribution.
    • A toss of loaded dice is still random , though biased.
  • (computing) Pseudorandom; mimicking the result of random selection.
    • The rand function generates a random number from a seed.
  • (somewhat colloquial) Representative and undistinguished; typical and average; selected for no particular reason.
    • A random American off the street couldn't tell the difference.
  • (somewhat colloquial) Apropos of nothing; lacking context; unexpected; having apparent lack of plan, cause or reason.
    • That was a completely random comment.
    The teacher's bartending story was interesting, but random .
    The narrative takes a random course.
  • (colloquial) Characterized by or often saying random things; habitually using non sequiturs.
    • You're so random !

    Synonyms

    * (having unpredictable outcomes) * (of or relating to probability distribution) stochastic * (pseudorandom) pseudorandom * (representative and undistinguished) average, typical * (lacking context) arbitrary, unexpected, unplanned

    Derived terms

    * at random * non-random * pseudorandom * randomer * randomise, randomize * randomness * random number * randomly * randomology * randomosity

    See also

    * (Randomness)

    Anagrams

    *

    conjectural

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • In the nature of a conjecture, or based on a conjecture.
  • * 1863 , Jules Festu, Practical lessons on the comparative construction of the verb in the French and English languages
    • In conjectural statements, the French often use the Future or the Conditional, instead of the Perfect or the Pluperfect used in English.
  • * 1844 , Thomas Joseph Pettigrew, On Superstitions Connected with the History and Practice of Medicine and Surgery
    • Medicine, however, has been, and still continues to be, an art so conjectural and uncertain, that our astonishment at the anxiety with which empirics have been sought after and followed is much diminished.

    Synonyms

    * hypothetical

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Something that is conjectural; a conjecture.
  • * 1821 , Richard Franck, Northern memoirs (page 15)
    • Let us not assume such previous conjecturals , but rather consult and expostulate death, since death is the wages and the reward of sin.
    ----