Skip to content
GREMockTests
GRE vocabulary

sporadic

adjectiveHigh-frequency wordMore S words

occurring at irregular or infrequent intervals

Word origin: From Greek sporadikos, scattered.

Test your vocabulary in a real test Full-length · no signup · instant score
In a sentence

Sporadic in a sentence

Here are example sentences showing sporadic in a sentence.

Sporadic gunfire could be heard throughout the night.

Sporadic outbreaks of the disease appeared in scattered villages, never coalescing into a full epidemic.

Synonyms
intermittentoccasionalscattered
Antonyms
constantfrequent
Usage & nuance

Using “sporadic” well

Sporadic means occurring at irregular or infrequent intervals, scattered in time or place. It stresses lack of pattern, unlike steady or periodic recurrence.

Common questions

Questions about “sporadic

Sporadic (adjective) means occurring at irregular or infrequent intervals
Here is sporadic used in an example sentence: "Sporadic gunfire could be heard throughout the night." Another example: "Sporadic outbreaks of the disease appeared in scattered villages, never coalescing into a full epidemic."
Common synonyms for sporadic include intermittent, occasional, scattered.
Antonyms of sporadic include constant, frequent.
Clusters with intermittent, occasional, and scattered in Sentence Equivalence. Its antonyms constant and frequent mark the opposite, regular pole.
Yes. Sporadic is a high-frequency GRE word, so it is worth prioritising as you build your vocabulary.

See these words the way the GRE tests them.

Definitions in isolation do not stick. Sit a free, full-length GRE mock and meet this vocabulary inside real text completion and sentence equivalence questions, with your score and a worked solution for every answer.