erratic

See also: erràtic

English

WOTD – 13 August 2012, 13 August 2013, 13 August 2014

Alternative forms

Etymology

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₁ers-
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
Proto-Indo-European *h₁erseh₂yéti
Proto-Italic *ersāō?
Latin errō
▲
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-tós
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos
Proto-Italic *-ātos
Latin -ātus
Proto-Indo-European *-kos
Proto-Indo-European *-ikos
Proto-Italic *-ikos
Latin -icus
Latin -āticus
Classical Latin errāticusbor.
Old French erratique
Middle French erratiquebor.
▲
Classical Latin errāticusbor.
Middle English erratik
English erratic

    From Middle English erratik, from Middle French erratique (from Old French erratique) and its etymon Classical Latin errāticus.[1]

    Pronunciation

    • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɪˈɹætɪk/
    • (General American, Canada, Australia) IPA(key): /ɪˈɹætɪk/, [ɪˈɹæɾɪk], /əˈɹætɪk/, [əˈɹæɾɪk]
      • Audio (Queensland):(file)
    • (New Zealand) IPA(key): /əˈɹɛtək/, [əˈɹɛɾək]
    • Rhymes: -ætɪk

    Adjective

    erratic (comparative more erratic, superlative most erratic)

    1. Unsteady, random; prone to unexpected changes; not consistent.
      Synonym: mercurial
      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.
      • 2010, Mary Roach, “You Go First: The Alarming Prospect of Life Without Gravity”, in Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, W. W. Norton & Company, →ISBN, page 90:
        The V-2's directional system was notoriously erratic. In May 1947, a V-2 launched from White Sands Proving Ground headed south instead of north, missing downtown Juarez, Mexico, by 3 miles.
    2. Deviating from normal opinions or actions; eccentric; odd.
      erratic conduct
      • 2026 July 18, Nicholas Muhoro, “Bryce Laspisa Vanished Near Castaic Lake After Spending 13 Hours Parked on a California Highway”, in Skip Boring‎[1], archived from the original on 19 July 2026:
        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.

    Antonyms

    Derived terms

    Translations

    Noun

    erratic (plural erratics)

    1. (geology) A rock moved from one location to another, usually by a glacier.
      • 2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, BCA, page 372:
        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.
      • 2015 May 4, Dominick Tyler, “10 UK landscape features that you’ve probably never heard of”, in The Guardian‎[2], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 October 2026:
        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 their name: “erratics”.
    2. Anything that has erratic characteristics.

    Synonyms

    Translations

    References

    1. ^ “erratī̆k, adj. & n..”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

    Anagrams

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