Sekirov Dictionary

random

/ˈɹændəm/

adjective 8
noun 6
verb 1
forms 6
phrases 1

adjective8

•
happening with no reason or plan behind it, so that no one can guess it
- Our city is plagued by random acts of violence.
- random acts of kindness
•
(informal) Selected for no particular reason; arbitrary; unspecified.
- A random American off the street couldn't tell the difference.
- You're just going to trust the word of random people on the Internet?
•
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.
- The flip of a fair coin is purely random.
- The newspaper conducted a random sample of five hundred American teenagers.
•
Pseudorandom; mimicking the result of random selection.
- The rand function generates a random number from a seed.
•
(informal) Apropos of nothing; lacking context, relevance, or any connection to the previous situation; unexpected.
- This random guy just came up to me to say that he was a fan of my work.
- Thank you for that completely random comment... now, let's get back to our actual topic of discussion.
•
(informal) Of a person: characterized by or often saying random things; habitually using non sequiturs.
- You're so random! I never know what you're going to do next.
•
(slang) Being out of the ordinary; unusual or unexpected; odd, strange, bizarre.
- That's a rather random fact!
- I can't believe he would say that. That's so random!
•
(informal) Being (part of) a varied, unrelated, and apparently arbitrary collection of things; diverse, heterogeneous.
- My notebook has turned into a random collection of thoughts.
- I brought a bunch of random snacks, but nothing nutritious.

noun6

•
A roving motion; course without definite direction; lack of rule or method; chance.
- Still take advice ; though counsels, when they fly / At random, sometimes hit most happily. — 1648
•
(informal, figurative) An undefined, unknown or unimportant person; a person of no consequence.
- The party was boring. It was full of randoms.
•
(historical) A frame for composing type.
- Utilization of all floor space underneath case racks and randoms is another feature of the modern composing room; […] — 1935
The direction of a rake-vein.
•
(no longer used) Speed, full speed; impetuosity, force.
- […] for coragiously the two kynges newely foughte with great randon and force, they shewed their vigors and strengthes and did so nobly that their coũter parties had none aduaũtage. — 1548
•
(no longer used) The full range of a bullet or other projectile; hence, the angle at which a weapon is tilted to allow the greatest range.
- Fortie yards will they shoot levell, or very neare the marke, and 120 is their best at Random. — 1624

verb1

To wander; to stray; to meander.

forms

randomed · randoming · randoms · more random · most random · randomest

Phrases with random

Joe Random
A hypothetical average or generic individual; a random, common man.

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