hit-or-miss

1 of 2

adjective

: marked by a lack of care, forethought, system, or plan
also : hit-and-miss

hit or miss

2 of 2

adverb

: in a hit-or-miss manner : haphazardly

Examples of hit-or-miss in a Sentence

Adjective your hit-or-miss schedule for taking your medication is going to land you in the hospital again Adverb I was learning Spanish hit or miss, mostly just by hearing my friends speak it.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Adjective
Truthfully, a lot of the mixtapes were hit-or-miss studio session dumps with half-assed themes. Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 4 July 2025 Not to mention the hit-or-miss vagaries of Electrify America chargers: one day everything works, the next day multiple chargers are down. Brooke Crothers, Forbes.com, 29 June 2025
Adverb
Edmunds’ touch on his passes was hit or miss Saturday — Huntington Beach scoring the third-fewest points in pool play — but his power behind every throw kept the Oilers in every contest. Benjamin Royer, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 2025 Quality is hit or miss, and in lower-quality journals, pages are prone to falling out. Bestreviews, Mercury News, 3 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for hit-or-miss

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1848, in the meaning defined above

Adverb

1606, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hit-or-miss was in 1606

Browse Nearby Words

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Cite this Entry

“Hit-or-miss.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hit-or-miss. Accessed 11 Jul. 2025.

Kids Definition

hit or miss

adverb
: without plan, order, or direction : haphazardly
hit-or-miss
ˌhit-ər-ˈmis
adjective
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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