randomness

noun

ran·​dom·​ness ˈran-dəm-nəs 

: the quality or state of being or seeming random (as in lacking or seeming to lack a definite plan, purpose, or pattern)

Many Western artists and writers have been inspired by the I Ching. … The composer John Cage used it as a way to generate randomness and chance in his compositions, giving them their distinctive and often remarkable qualities.

—Heinz Insu Fenkl

… the metaphor of a coin flip for randomness remains unquestioned. We use coin tosses to settle disputes and decide outcomes because we believe they are unbiased, with 50-50 odds. Yet recent research into coin flips has discovered that the laws of mechanics determine the outcome of coin tosses …

—David E. Adler

the randomness of life

Examples of randomness in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Rai being the last man standing among the likes of Ludvig Aberg, McIlroy, Rahm, Reed, and Schauffele — who all began the day within three shots of the lead — has a feeling of randomness about it, which was the theme for the week at Aronimink. —Mark Harris, FOXNews.com, 17 May 2026

This time, Survivor’s randomness is working out for her. —Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 14 May 2026

If Cleveland is going to continue to be a poor 3-point shooting team (legs don’t usually get fresher as a team advances), the Knicks defense is better equipped to handle isolation scorers like Cleveland’s than the randomness Detroit provides with its cutting, athleticism and transition play. —James L. Edwards Iii, New York Times, 13 May 2026

But in the quantum realm, randomness reigns; a particle comes with multiple quantum states, collapsing to just one of them in unpredictable ways. —Quanta Magazine, 29 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1803, in the meaning defined above