irregular

irregular

adjective

Definition of IRREGULAR

1

departing from some accepted standard of what is normal <it was a bank customer's slightly irregular behavior that made people suspicious>

Synonyms aberrant, aberrational, abnormal, anomalous, atypical, deviate, devious, irregular, unnatural, untypical

Related Words unrepresentative; extraordinary, preternatural; rare, uncommon, uncustomary, unusual, unwonted; bizarre, curious, far-out, funny, kinky, odd, outlandish, out-of-the-way, outré, peculiar, quaint, queer, queerish, quirky, remarkable, screwy, strange, wacky (also whacky), way-out, weird, wild; eccentric, freakish, idiosyncratic, nonconformist, unconventional, unorthodox; extraordinary, preternatural; rare, uncommon, uncustomary, unusual, unwonted; odd, peculiar, strange

Near Antonyms common, commonplace, everyday, familiar, ordinary, routine, run-of-the-mill, run-of-the-mine (or run-of-mine), unexceptional, unremarkable, workaday; customary, usual, wonted; archetypal (also archetypical), average, characteristic, representative

Antonyms natural, normal, regular, standard, typical

2

lacking in steadiness or regularity of occurrence <irregular mail delivery to the island>

Synonyms aperiodic, casual, catchy, choppy, discontinuous, episodic (also episodical), erratic, intermittent, irregular, occasional, spasmodic, spastic, sporadic, spotty, unsteady

Related Words convulsive, sudden, violent; broken, disconnected, fragmentary, interrupted; aimless, arbitrary, desultory, haphazard, hit-and-miss, hit-or-miss, odd, random, scattered, slapdash, stray; capricious, changeful, changing, flickery, fluctuating, fluid, inconstant, mercurial, mutable, temperamental, uncertain, unpredictable, unsettled, unstable, varying, wavering; changeable, fickle, variable, volatile

Near Antonyms changeless, equable, even, stable, stationary, uniform; unchanging, unvarying, unwavering; methodical (also methodic), orderly, systematic; unrelenting, unremitting

Antonyms constant, continuous, habitual, periodic, regular, repeated, steady

3

not having a level or smooth surface <although the moon looks smooth from here, it actually has a very bumpy and irregular surface>

Synonyms broken, bumpy, coarse, irregular, jagged, lumpy, pebbly, ragged, rough, roughened, rugged, scraggy

Related Words lopsided, unbalanced; inexact, unaligned; rutted, rutty, undulating, undulatory, wavy; pitted, pocked; knobbly, knobby, knurled, knurly, nubbly, nubby; burred, harsh, sandpapery, scraggly, scratchy; nonuniform

Near Antonyms exact, uniform; aligned (also alined), regular, true; horizontal, tabular; plumb, straight, vertical; flush

Antonyms even, flat, level, plane, smooth

4

not rigidly following established form, custom, or rules <the request is irregular, but I'll allow it>

Synonyms heterodox, irregular, unceremonious, unconventional, unorthodox

Related Words unauthorized, unofficial; casual, easygoing, familiar, free and easy, lax, loose, offhand, relaxed, ultracasual

Near Antonyms correct, decorous, proper; constrained, inhibited, restrained, rigid, stiff, stuffy, uptight

Antonyms ceremonial, ceremonious, conventional, formal, orthodox, regular, routine

5

not staying constant <irregular gusts of wind>

Synonyms changing, erratic, fluctuating, irregular, unequal, unstable, unsteady, varying

Related Words capricious, changeable, changeful, choppy, fickle, fluid, inconsistent, inconstant, mercurial, mutable, uncertain, unsettled, variable, volatile

Near Antonyms regular

Antonyms changeless, constant, stable, steady, unchanging, unvarying