Synonyms for random
- adjective
- noun
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Stochastic — involving an outcome which is impossible to predict, but which may be represented by a probability…
2. Casual
casual, accidental, fortuitous, serendipitous, chance, unintentional, by the by, adventitious, unpremeditated, causeless, hapchance formal rare
3. Purposeless
purposeless, aimless, wandering, vague, irrelevant, stray, desultory dated
Other
hap-hazard, hit-or-miss informal US, hit-and-miss UK, instantial rare
Noun
1. Rando — an undefined, unknown or unimportant person; a person of no consequence
rando informal, nobody, non-entity
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Involving an outcome which is impossible to predict, but which may be represented by a probability distribution; in the ideal case, involving outcomes which are equally likely.
Near-synonyms: aleatory, stochastic
- adj. 2
Occurring for no particular reason; haphazard, unpredictable.
Our city is plagued by random acts of violence.
- n. 1
Speed, full speed; impetuosity, force.
- n. 2
An undefined, unknown or unimportant person; a person of no consequence.
The party was boring. It was full of randoms.
Related words
- Word family
- randy
- Phrases
- random variable at random random process random-access random telegraph noise
Forms
- Plural
- randoms → randos, nobodies, non-entities, forces…
Example sentences
- accidental The inquest returned a verdict of accidental death.
- fortuitous How fortuitous that you were there on the same night!
- purposeless It's purposeless to rank people by their ability to memorize.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| random | steady | |
| accidental | falling | |
| fortuitous | falling | |
| purposeless | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 5 letters
- force1, speed1, vague1, stray1, rando2
- 6 letters
- chance1, nobody3, casual3
- 7 letters
- vagrant2, aimless2
- 8 letters
- momentum3, velocity4, aleatory5
- 9 letters
- wandering3, desultory4, causeless, hapchance
- 10 letters
- irrelevant4, accidental4, stochastic3, fortuitous4, instantial
- 11 letters
- purposeless3
- 12 letters
- adventitious
- 13 letters
- unintentional5, serendipitous5
- 14 letters
- unpremeditated
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (rando2 = 2 syllables).