EN

Synonyms for intermittent

11 synonyms
5 antonyms
1 meaning

adjective

Most common

sporadic spasmodic recurrent periodic

All synonyms

Adjective

1. Sporadic — stopping and starting, occurring, or presenting at intervals; coming after a particular time span

sporadic, spasmodic, recurrent, periodic, discontinuous, periodical, fitful, patchy, broken, catchy

Other

Antonyms

continuous, steady, continual

All antonyms of intermittent →

Definitions

adj. 1
Stopping and starting, occurring, or presenting at intervals; coming after a particular time span.
The day was cloudy with intermittent rain.

Related words

Word family: intermittently inter intermit intermittence intermittency
Phrases: intermittent explosive disorder intermittent lake

Example sentences

periodic He learnt the periodic table by heart just for fun.
sporadic Sporadic gunfire was heard in the distance.
recurrent Her recurrent nightmare involved a tsunami.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
intermittent		steady
periodic		steady
sporadic		steady
recurrent		rising
spasmodic		steady
remittent		falling

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

6 letters: broken², catchy², patchy², fitful²
8 letters: periodic⁴, sporadic³
9 letters: recurrent³, spasmodic³, remittent
10 letters: periodical⁵
13 letters: discontinuous

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (broken² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: intermittent
Italiano: intermittente