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 Occasionally - What's the difference?

random | occasionally |

As a noun random

is a roving motion; course without definite direction; lack of rule or method; chance.

As an adjective random

is having unpredictable outcomes and, in the ideal case, all outcomes equally probable; resulting from such selection; lacking statistical correlation.

As an adverb occasionally is

from time to time; now and then; once in a while; irregularly; at infrequent intervals.

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

    *

    occasionally

    English

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • From time to time; now and then; once in a while; irregularly; at infrequent intervals.
  • *1592 , Gabriel Harvey, "Fovre Letters", Miscellaneous Tracts , page 56
  • *:Were nothing els di?cour?ively in?erted (as ?ome little el?e occa?ionally pre?ented it ?elfe), what paper more currently fit for the bare?t mechanicall u?es,...
  • *1619 , John Richardson, John Toland, The canon of the New Testament Vindicated , page 30
  • *:I think it is plain, that Origen'', whatever Character he may have occa?ionally given of this Book, did not judge it any part of the ''Canon ...
  • *1639 , Henry Ainsworth, Annotations Upon the Five Books of Moses, the Book of the Psalmes and the Song of Songs , page 177.
  • *:God ?etteth no houres for the morning or evening ?acrifice because they may occa?ionally be changed.
  • * 1855 , Horace Mann, "On the Statistical Position of Religious Bodies in England and Wales," Journal of the Statistical Society of London , vol. 18, no. 2, p. 152,
    • Some perhaps worship only on alternate Sundays; others still more occasionally .
  • * 1978 , Stephen R. Graubard, "Twenty Years of 'Daedalus'," Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , vol. 32, no. 3, p. 18,
    • The journal, more occasionally , has turned to what might be called "fashionable" themes.
  • * 2007 , Matt Gouras/AP, " Wildfires Rage in Montana," Time , 17 Aug,
    • Flames could still be seen from town flaring up occasionally on a hill dotted with emergency vehicles.