erratic — Dizionario inglese

Aggettivo

1. Unsteady, random; prone to unexpected changes; not consistent.

   Sinonimi

   mercurial

   Esempi

   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.

   Altri esempi (1)

   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.

   Esempi

   erratic conduct

   Altri esempi (1)

   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.

Sostantivo

1. A rock moved from one location to another, usually by a glacier.

   Esempi

   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.

   Altri esempi (1)

   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.

Aggettivo

1. liable to sudden unpredictable change

   Sinonimi

   ficklemercurialquicksilver

   Esempi

   erratic behavior

   fickle weather

   Altri esempi (2)

   mercurial twists of temperament

   a quicksilver character, cool and willful at one moment, utterly fragile the next

2. having no fixed course

   Sinonimi

   planetarywandering

   Esempi

   an erratic comet

   his life followed a wandering course

   Altri esempi (1)

   a planetary vagabond

3. likely to perform unpredictably

   Sinonimi

   temperamental

   Esempi

   erratic winds are the bane of a sailor

   a temperamental motor: sometimes it would start and sometimes it wouldn't