as in sporadic
lacking in steadiness or regularity of occurrence
the novel captures the discontinuous nature of a soldier's life: long stretches of boredom interrupted by flashes of action
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of discontinuous
When reinforced with discontinuous fibers, vitrimers, a class of plastic, can be reshaped repeatedly, crushed, and molded into new forms many times without their chemical structure degrading.
—
Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 12 Aug. 2025
Increased spotting potential east of the PCT exists, however, these spots have low potential for spread due to sparse, discontinuous vegetation or they can be accessed and suppressed by firefighting resources.
—Ca Wildfire Bot, Sacbee.com, 12 July 2025
Spread in thin, discontinuous bands across a few miles of terrain, the ancient material is a challenge to identify and even harder to access.
—Ella Jeffries, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 May 2025
The city of almost 52,000, carved into discontinuous clumps by unincorporated land, straddles the Denton-Collin county line.
▪ Anna, also in Collin, is a 30 minute drive east of Celina.
—Jaime Moore-Carrillo, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for discontinuous
Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 12 Aug. 2025
Increased spotting potential east of the PCT exists, however, these spots have low potential for spread due to sparse, discontinuous vegetation or they can be accessed and suppressed by firefighting resources.
—Ca Wildfire Bot, Sacbee.com, 12 July 2025
Spread in thin, discontinuous bands across a few miles of terrain, the ancient material is a challenge to identify and even harder to access.
—Ella Jeffries, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 May 2025
The city of almost 52,000, carved into discontinuous clumps by unincorporated land, straddles the Denton-Collin county line.
▪ Anna, also in Collin, is a 30 minute drive east of Celina.
—Jaime Moore-Carrillo, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for discontinuous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for discontinuous
Adjective
-
Flows are narcoleptic, drums are sporadic, and melodies are soft enough to live in a dollhouse.—
Olivier Lafontant,
Pitchfork,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Still, sporadic cross-border fighting had continued even while delegations from the two sides were attending the talks in Urumqi.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
27 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The deflating defeat, narrated by an intermittent cascade of boos, rendered their record the worst in baseball at 7-16 and suddenly a half-game lousier than the idle New York Mets.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
8 May 2026
-
The job market is showing intermittent signs of recovery after a bleak 2025.—
Paul Wiseman,
Los Angeles Times,
8 May 2026
Adjective
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Although the program was a tribute to the TV series starring Paul Reuben as Pee-wee Herman and not the feature films with the same character, there was an occasional moment of crossover into the Pee-wee cinematic universe.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
7 May 2026
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The hotel’s 88 rooms, including 25 suites created by award-winning design studio Jaime Beriestain, are understated in ivory, dove gray, and the occasional dash of teal velvet, with Egyptian cotton bed linens and goose down comforters.—
Eddi Fiegel,
Robb Report,
7 May 2026
Adjective
-
If the arteries are leading to the brain, symptoms may involve sudden numbness or weakness in the arms or legs, trouble speaking, slurred speech, sudden or temporary vision loss in one eye or facial drooping.—
Charles Trepany,
USA Today,
6 May 2026
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The vote of confidence from Multicoin continued what has been a sudden revival of interest in Zcash, which first launched in 2016.—
Jack Kubinec,
Fortune,
6 May 2026
Adjective
-
Lyme is more complex and varied and can cause symptoms ranging from fever and rash to facial paralysis, an irregular heartbeat and even arthritis.—
Mary Walrath-Holdridge,
USA Today,
9 May 2026
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Today’s exotic mortgage avenue is defined by borrowers with limited income documentation, irregular income streams or alternative forms of income documentation.—
Jeff Lazerson,
Oc Register,
7 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Discontinuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/discontinuous. Accessed 11 May. 2026.
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