Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1600-1700
Language: Medieval Latin
Origin: sporadicus, from Greek, from sporaden 'scattered in different places'

sporadic

 adjective
     
spo‧rad‧ic
happening fairly often, but not regularly [= intermittent]:
There has been sporadic violence downtown.
—sporadically adverb:
The fighting continued sporadically for several days.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary