erratic
UK/ɪˈɹætɪk/US/ɪˈɹætɪk/
erratic adjective: unsteady, random; prone to unexpected changes; not consistent.
Adjective
erratic (comparative more erratic, superlative most erratic)
- Unsteady, random; prone to unexpected changes; not consistent.
- Henry has been getting erratic scores on his tests: 40% last week, but 98% this week.
- When we found you on the street, your behavior was all erratic and it seemed like you were having a panic attack.
- Synonyms:
- mercurial
- Deviating from normal opinions or actions; eccentric; odd.
- erratic conduct
- Investigators were careful not to rule out Bryce’s erratic behaviour in his final days, including the giveaways, the sudden breakup, and the hours spent parked by the side of the freeway. These factors pointed to a mental health crisis severe enough that he wanted to disappear.2026 July 18, Nicholas Muhoro, “Bryce Laspisa Vanished Near Castaic Lake After Spending 13 Hours Parked on a California Highway”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 19 Jul 2026
Noun
erratic (plural erratics)
- A rock moved from one location to another, usually by a glacier.
- 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.2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, BCA, page 372
- During the last ice-age, massive stones were carried for miles by the scouring glaciers, only to be left, like passengers at the end of the line, when the glaciers retreated. Stranded in their new surroundings with rocks with which they share no common geology, their out-of-place-ness is evoked by...2015 May 4, Dominick Tyler, “10 UK landscape features that you’ve probably never heard of”, in The Guardian
- Synonyms:
- dropstone
- Anything that has erratic characteristics.
erratic meaning in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada
erratic in Tamil
- ஒழுங்கற்ற, தவறான, தவறுகிற, நெறி பிறழ்ந்த, நெறிதிறம்பிய, அலையும்
erratic in Malayalam
- അസ്ഥിരഗുണമുള്ള, വക്രഗതിയുള്ള, അലഞ്ഞുതിരിയുന്ന
erratic in Kannada
- ಸಾಹಸಕಾರ್ಯಾನ್ವೇಷಕನಾದ, ಅಸಹಜವಾದ ನಡತೆಯುಳ್ಳ, ಸಮತೆ ತಪ್ಪುವ, ಹುಚ್ಚಾಬಟ್ಟೆಯ, ಗೊತ್ತು ಇಲ್ಲದ, ಕ್ರಮ ಇಲ್ಲದ
Examples of erratic in a sentence
- The V-2's directional system was notoriously erratic.2010, Mary Roach, “You Go First: The Alarming Prospect of Life Without Gravity”, in Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the...
- Stranded in their new surroundings with rocks with which they share no common geology, their out-of-place-ness is evoked by their name: “erratics”.2015 May 4, Dominick Tyler, “10 UK landscape features that you’ve probably never heard of”, in The Guardian:
Synonyms of erratic
Antonyms
Forms of erratic
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more erratic |
| superlative | most erratic |
| alternative form | erratick |
| alternative form | erraticke |
| alternative form | erratique |
| Noun | |
| plural | erratics |
Origin of erratic
From Middle English erratik, from Middle French erratique (from Old French erratique) and its etymon Classical Latin errāticus.
Words formed from erratic
Words that rhyme with erratic
- automatic
- chromatic
- emphatic
- static
- systematic
- idiomatic
- attic
- hexachromatic
- thematic
- aromatic
- democratic
- hepatic
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- lymphatic
- schematic
- adiabatic
- aristocratic
- asymptomatic
- athematic
- autocratic
- axiomatic
- chiasmatic
- fanatic
- fluorochromatic
- interchromatic
- phlegmatic
- prismatic
- psychosomatic
- quadchromatic
- rheumatic
- sciatic
- stromatic
- aerobatic
- altermatic
- aposematic
- asthmatic
- bathochromatic
- bizygomatic
- bureaucratic
- chorochromatic
- chromocratic
- circumzygomatic
- coccochromatic
- curatic
- diabatic
- dyschromatic
- endolymphatic
- episematic
- epistatic
- frontozygomatic
- glymphatic
- goniochromatic
- graphematic
- herostratic
- hydroinformatic
- idiosyncratic
- immunochromatic
- infrazygomatic
- interzygomatic
- katabatic
- kinechromatic
Questions about erratic
- What does erratic mean?
- Erratic means unsteady, random; prone to unexpected changes; not consistent.
- What is erratic in Tamil?
- Erratic in Tamil is ஒழுங்கற்ற, தவறான, தவறுகிற. See Erratic meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use erratic in a sentence?
- The V-2's directional system was notoriously erratic.
- What part of speech is erratic?
- Erratic can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce erratic?
- Erratic is pronounced /ɪˈɹætɪk/ (UK).
Words near erratic in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: erratic (page history and authors); erratic (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); erratic (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); erratic (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-erratic.ogg.
Cite this entry: “erratic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/erratic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.