episodic

adjective ep·i·sod·ic \ ˌe-pə-ˈsä-dik also -ˈzä- \

variants: or less commonly episodical play \ˌe-pə-ˈsä-di-kəl also -ˈzä-\

|Updated on: 9 Jun 2018

Examples: episodic in a Sentence

Definition of episodic

1 : made up of separate especially loosely connected episodes

2 : having the form of an episode

3 : of or limited in duration or significance to a particular episode : temporary

may be able to establish whether the sea-floor spreading is continuous or episodic
—A. I. Hammond

4 : occurring, appearing, or changing at usually irregular intervals : occasional

an episodic illness

—

episodically

play \ˌe-pə-ˈsä-di-k(ə-)lē also -ˈzä-\ adverb

See episodic defined for English-language learners

Examples of episodic in a Sentence

the long novel was filmed for television as an episodic movie that was shown over the course of five evenings
malaria is characterized by episodic attacks of chills and fever that coincide with mass destruction of blood cells

Recent Examples of episodic from the Web

Shonda Rhimes, who is transitioning her episodic empire from ABC to Netflix, does the same.

— refinery29.com, "This New Study Proves That Hollywood Does Not Get Intersectionality," 23 May 2018
As episodic television, there is a big reset button at the beginning of nearly every episode, where the old emotional order is reasserted.

— robert lloyd, latimes.com, "Before 'Roseanne's' revival, 'The Middle' carried the torch for America's heartland," 22 May 2018
An alternative view is that progress on civil rights in the United States has been episodic and inconsistent, with victory often followed by backlash.

— New York Times, "How a Racist Sheriff Railroaded a Disabled Teenager and Got Off," 3 May 2018
As part of the separation, CBS would retain the rights to distribute existing episodic Star Trek material and develop new series, but Paramount (still with Viacom) would have the rights to past and future motion picture projects.

— sam ferguson, Ars Technica, "A dozen years after near-death, Star Trek’s future may be stronger than ever," 19 May 2018
With the exception of the fourth installment, each of the Melrose novels takes place in a single day, a structure that lends itself neatly to episodic television.

— sophie gilbert, The Atlantic, "Patrick Melrose Is a Lacerating Tour de Force," 10 May 2018
As the Association of American Colleges and Universities has stressed repeatedly, liberal education matters to democracy — and not just as a preparation for vicarious and episodic citizenship, but also as democratic participation itself.

— valerie strauss, Washington Post, "Can liberal education survive at a scandal-plagued university? A professor explains why it must.," 1 May 2018
Yet the spare and episodic encounters do take us to some tender places.

— alex gilvarry, New York Times, "A Dying Father, His Son and One Last Road Trip," 25 Apr. 2018
The only reason that a lot of non-union commercials or episodic television or movies mirror working conditions is because those working conditions unions set become standard.

— nick statt, The Verge, "Game developers look to unions to fix the industry’s exploitative workplace culture," 23 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'episodic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.