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)

… 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

Views of the 47th president, from the ground up Read the rest of the series The randomness of the administration’s action, and its apparent error, is maddening enough. —Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2025

Editors’ Picks The sheer randomness of the meme is the point, Mr. Ophir said. —Alisha Haridasani Gupta, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025

So, this idea of correlations and information that are sort-of hidden in this randomness, that’s this notion of entanglement. —Steven Strogatz, Quanta Magazine, 17 Apr. 2025

Just randomness with Maitland Police and Public Works. —Ticked Off, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1803, in the meaning defined above