hit-and-miss

Definition of hit-and-missnext

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of hit-and-miss Alabama transfer Isaiah Bond was more hit-and-miss, and Oregon State’s Silas Bolden had little impact other than letting punts bounce for extra yards time after time. Kirk Bohls, Houston Chronicle, 9 Mar. 2026 But overall, styling is hit-and-miss on this one in my humble opinion. New Atlas, 4 Mar. 2026 And to say its fusillade of jokes is hit-and-miss would also be a charitable take. Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2026 The hit-and-miss driverless experience comes despite Musk responding in September to a Robotaxi user’s social media lament about having a supervisor in the driver’s seat. Andrea Guzmán, Austin American Statesman, 21 Jan. 2026 So much of the immediate pleasure of the show came from how unforced and unstudied the young ensemble was in the beginning, but what felt like brilliant casting in the beginning became increasingly more hit-and-miss as the show progressed. Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 1 Jan. 2026 Perhaps not coincidentally, Crowe has been on a long-running, hit-and-miss self-improvement program for at least two decades. Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture, 11 Dec. 2025 They have been hit-and-miss with their high-quality opportunities, though, with their big-chance conversion rate of 33 per cent matching Manchester United’s. Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025 The storms are expected to be hit-and-miss, so not everyone will see rain. Kansas City Star, 17 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hit-and-miss
Adjective
  • All of this is a bit haphazard, and none of it is very deep or revealing.
    Naomi Fry, New Yorker, 21 Mar. 2026
  • Lawmakers have accused the Justice Department of withholding too many files and criticized the agency for haphazard redactions that exposed intimate details about victims.
    Alanna Durkin Richer, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • Recent poll results shared at a Tuesday night hearing showed 55% of those in a random sample were favorable to a mill levy override.
    Olivia Young, CBS News, 9 Apr. 2026
  • No doubt, this isn’t some random list, these three players remaining on the roster when so many others were dumped overboard.
    Dave Hyde, Sun Sentinel, 9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • The coverage of showers and storms looks hit-or-miss.
    Cutter Martin, CBS News, 10 Apr. 2026
  • To run the table, Fearne would need the two-man game of Mingo and Anton Bonke to feast on smaller defenders, wing Arden Conyers to continue his late-season stride, and the hit-or-miss game of Damoni Harrison to fire on all cylinders.
    Hunter Bailey, Charlotte Observer, 10 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • Within minutes of leaving town, the pavement twists downward through tight turns and steep grades as the mountain air begins to warm, the vegetation giving way to chaparral and scattered juniper, then to the stark silhouettes of ocotillo and Mojave yucca.
    Josh Jackson, Los Angeles Times, 7 Apr. 2026
  • Another concern is the protection of Route 90, the only highway connecting the small and scattered communities of the north, on which the 27-year-old woman was killed last week.
    Tal Shalev, CNN Money, 31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • Long aimless drives opened up my small teenage world.
    Deputy Managing Editor, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2026
  • Trump’s goal is to distract you from rising gas prices, his aimless war, ICE abuses, and the Epstein files.
    Jonathan Limehouse, USA Today, 21 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • An awkward, desultory conversation ensues.
    Alex Ross, New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2026
  • There'd be people sitting outside smoking, having desultory conversations, playing games.
    Lale Arikoglu, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • The Bulls don’t want Buzelis to get caught up in hitting an arbitrary number on the scale.
    Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 3 Apr. 2026
  • The advisory does not specify uniform procedures at the border but warns travelers that electronic data may be accessed and that enforcement can be arbitrary.
    Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • The stray bullet went through Kaori’s head and grazed her 2-year-old brother’s back.
    Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 11 Apr. 2026
  • Toss in a missing daughter-in-law, mysterious land-squatter (Imogen Poots), and the scary thing that happens when someone jumps in the hole, and Abbott quickly has more on his hands than stray cows.
    Matt Cabral, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Apr. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Hit-and-miss.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hit-and-miss. Accessed 14 Apr. 2026.

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