haphazard

adjective hap·haz·ard \ (ˌ)hap-ˈha-zərd \

|Updated on: 12 Aug 2018

Tip: Synonym Guide

Examples: haphazard in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of haphazard

: marked by lack of plan, order, or direction

a haphazard assemblage of furniture

not … a collection of haphazard schemes, but rather the orderly component parts of a connected and logical whole
—F. D. Roosevelt

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haphazard

adverb

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haphazardly

adverb

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haphazardness

noun

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haphazardry

play \(ˌ)hap-ˈha-zər-drē\ noun

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Examples of haphazard in a Sentence

We were given a haphazard tour of the city.
considering the haphazard way you measured the ingredients, it's a wonder the cookies came out this good

Recent Examples of haphazard from the Web

And this haphazard collection of setups, stunts and gags has that same scattershot, digressive energy.

— ann hornaday, kansascity, "A game cast makes good-natured ‘Tag’ a fun time," 14 June 2018
Evidence of the city’s haphazard planning sits along the new Ella Fitzgerald Park, Nash said.

— joe guillen, Detroit Free Press, "Detroit's showcase neighborhood project falls a year behind schedule," 3 July 2018
For her and others who have already been publicly reunified, the pursuit has become a haphazard combination of determination, litigation and hope.

— nick oza, azcentral, "A Guatemalan mother is driving from the border to New York to find her separated children," 1 July 2018
The Carlisle cemetery was moved across the base to its present location in 1927, in what native leaders have criticized as a haphazard job.

— jeff gammage, Philly.com, "The last trip home for boy torn from his family in another century," 20 June 2018
Redistricting is a major priority for Robinson, who rails against the state’s spidery, haphazard congressional districts, stretched by gerrymandering.

— libby solomon, baltimoresun.com, "Meet the candidates for state delegate in the District 42B primary," 19 June 2018
Typical burials involved cremations or individual plots in dedicated cemeteries, a far cry from the haphazard mass grave found at Halberstadt.

— meilan solly, Smithsonian, "7,000-Year-Old German Grave Shows New Side of Neolithic Brutality," 11 July 2018
Record keeping in Texas was so haphazard that the true number of deaths there couldn’t be counted.

— rob o'dell, azcentral, "What dead pigs can teach us about missing bodies in the Arizona desert," 5 July 2018
Given these haphazard groupings, a government reshuffle might not seem a bad idea.

— The Economist, "Remaking the federal government," 28 June 2018

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

Origin and Etymology of haphazard

see ²haphazard

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1576

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

haphazard Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of haphazard

random, haphazard, casual mean determined by accident rather than design. random stresses lack of definite aim, fixed goal, or regular procedure.

- a random selection of books

haphazard applies to what is done without regard for regularity or fitness or ultimate consequence.

- a haphazard collection of rocks

casual suggests working or acting without deliberation, intention, or purpose.

- a casual collector

haphazard

noun

Definition of haphazard

: chance 1

this little remnant preserved by the haphazard of chance
—Edith Hamilton

take our principles at haphazard
—John Locke

Recent Examples of haphazard from the Web

Aleksandr Golovin curled home a wonderful free-kick after haphazard defending from Shkodran Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny to level six minutes later.

— afp, chicagotribune.com, "Europa League Recap: Arsenal rout CSKA, Atletico, RB Leipzig, Lazio take victories," 5 Apr. 2018
The system now is a haphazard, on-the-ground monitoring network used to track greenhouse gases.

— john fialka, Scientific American, "Meet the Satellites that Can Pinpoint Methane and Carbon Dioxide Leaks," 9 Mar. 2018
Winfrey, who was first elected as city clerk in 2005, has come under fire multiple times over the years for running a haphazard and error-prone election process.

— allie gross, Detroit Free Press, "Detroit City Clerk announces new re-evaluation plan for all 3,000 election poll workers," 27 Feb. 2018

Did You Know?

The "hap" in "haphazard" comes from an English word that means "happening," as well as "chance or fortune," and that derives from the Old Norse word happ, meaning "good luck." Perhaps it’s no accident that "hazard," as well, has its own connotations of luck: while it now refers commonly to something that presents danger, at one time it referred to a dice game similar to craps. (The name ultimately derives from the Arabic al-zahr, or "the die.") "Haphazard" first entered English as a noun (again meaning "chance") in the 16th century, and soon afterward was being used as an adjective to describe things with no apparent logic or order.