scattershot
adjective
scat·ter·shot
ˈska-tər-ˌshät 
: broadly and often randomly inclusive : shotgun
scattershot advice
scattershot planning
Examples of scattershot in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Last week, Cohen’s questioning of Caroline Ellison, prosecutors’ most damning witness so far, was particularly scattershot and prompted near-constant objections from prosecutors that the judge largely sustained.
—
Allison Morrow, CNN, 16 Oct. 2023
Advertisement To some, these harrowing events may appear scattershot — individual pieces of evidence of general unrest or of society falling apart.
—Jp Brammer, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2023
Amazon’s latest two-day bombardment of deals — which will (most likely) function as the last discount-heavy holiday prior to Black Friday and Cyber Monday — technically wrapped yesterday, yet there’s still a scattershot helping of deals available to those who missed it.
—Brandon Widder, The Verge, 12 Oct. 2023
County maps that show scattershot holdings for Flannery don’t paint a full picture, one person said, because the company has also struck arrangements with some landowners that would not have to be reported to the county.
—Conor Dougherty, New York Times, 1 Sep. 2023
Watching their efforts unfold, de Paulis thinks these scattershot efforts may be distracting users from exploring each idea to the full.
—Shi En Kim, Scientific American, 3 Aug. 2023
In a stunning repudiation of the Combined Charging System (CCS) network—whose scattershot reliability has rankled EV owners or left prospects leery about buying one—a Who’s Who of automakers will unplug from CCS in favor of Tesla’s trustworthy North American Charging Standard (NACS).
—IEEE Spectrum, 2 Aug. 2023
Barbie probably is a feminist movie, but only in the most scattershot way.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 18 July 2023
Before, the schedule of debates were determined by media outlets — and the candidates themselves — in something of a scattershot system.
—James Pindell, BostonGlobe.com, 13 July 2023
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Allison Morrow, CNN, 16 Oct. 2023
Advertisement To some, these harrowing events may appear scattershot — individual pieces of evidence of general unrest or of society falling apart.
—Jp Brammer, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2023
Amazon’s latest two-day bombardment of deals — which will (most likely) function as the last discount-heavy holiday prior to Black Friday and Cyber Monday — technically wrapped yesterday, yet there’s still a scattershot helping of deals available to those who missed it.
—Brandon Widder, The Verge, 12 Oct. 2023
County maps that show scattershot holdings for Flannery don’t paint a full picture, one person said, because the company has also struck arrangements with some landowners that would not have to be reported to the county.
—Conor Dougherty, New York Times, 1 Sep. 2023
Watching their efforts unfold, de Paulis thinks these scattershot efforts may be distracting users from exploring each idea to the full.
—Shi En Kim, Scientific American, 3 Aug. 2023
In a stunning repudiation of the Combined Charging System (CCS) network—whose scattershot reliability has rankled EV owners or left prospects leery about buying one—a Who’s Who of automakers will unplug from CCS in favor of Tesla’s trustworthy North American Charging Standard (NACS).
—IEEE Spectrum, 2 Aug. 2023
Barbie probably is a feminist movie, but only in the most scattershot way.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 18 July 2023
Before, the schedule of debates were determined by media outlets — and the candidates themselves — in something of a scattershot system.
—James Pindell, BostonGlobe.com, 13 July 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'scattershot.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1951, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near scattershot
Cite this Entry
“Scattershot.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scattershot. Accessed 8 Dec. 2023.
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