sporadic

/spə-ˈra-dik/

Medieval Latin sporadicus, from Greek sporadikos, from sporadēn here and there, from sporad-, sporas scattered; akin to Greek speirein to sow

adjective

  1. occurring occasionally, singly, or in irregular or random instances

sporadic protests

infrequent uncommon scarce rare sporadic mean not common or abundant. infrequent implies occurrence at wide intervals in space or time. uncommon suggests a frequency below normal expectation.

noun

  1. a layer of ionization occurring irregularly within the E region of the ionosphere