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Sporadic vs Erratic - What's the difference?

sporadic | erratic |

As adjectives the difference between sporadic and erratic

is that sporadic is rare and scattered in occurrence while erratic is unsteady, random; prone to unexpected changes; not consistent.

As a noun erratic is

a rock moved from one location to another, usually by a glacier.

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

    *

    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

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