randomly

adverb

Definition of randomlynext
as in casually
without definite aim, direction, rule, or method the winner will be randomly chosen from among all of the entries

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 randomly The researchers analyzed 551 female patients across 73 hospitals in China who were randomly assigned to receive either the drug intravenously every three weeks, or the physician’s choice of chemotherapy. — Angelica Stabile, FOXNews.com, 29 Oct. 2026 In it, Stanford University psychologist Philip Zimbardo had 24 male college students randomly assigned to play guards or inmates in a mock prison to see how power structures could affect the behavior of ordinary people. — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 29 Oct. 2026 Friedland also told the newspaper that the Maduro case, along with Hellerstein’s other pending cases, would be randomly reassigned to another federal judge. — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 28 Oct. 2026 Participants were randomly assigned to receive either the vaccine with pembrolizumab or placebo injections alongside the immune treatment. — Mike McRae 25, New Atlas, 26 Oct. 2026 Students were randomly assigned to the roles of guards or inmates, with the guards pressured to maintain order by any means necessary. — Marlow Stern, Variety, 25 Oct. 2026 The gunman had already killed a teacher and three young children at Silver Rail Elementary School and could have continued his attack had Giamanco, 36, not randomly ended up at the crime scene. — David K. Li, NBC news, 23 Oct. 2026 Some were then randomly assigned to have a cancer vaccine custom-made after their tumors had been genetically sequenced. — Alice Park, Time, 22 Oct. 2026 The lottery said scratch-off tickets are distributed randomly, so neither the lottery nor retailers know where winning tickets will be sold until a prize is claimed. — Mike Darnay, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for randomly
  1. casually
  2. anyway
  3. erratically
  4. informally
  5. accidentally
  6. haphazardly
  7. irregularly
  8. aimlessly
Adverb
  • According to Jewish tradition, worn out sacred texts can’t be casually discarded; instead, they are stored in a geniza, a repository usually located within a synagogue or buried at a Jewish cemetery.
    — Angie Leventis Lourgos, Chicago Tribune, 1 Nov. 2026
  • Aryna Sabalenka casually displayed her massive engagement ring in a new Instagram carousel.
    — Hannah Malach, InStyle, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of casually
Adverb
  • The music also acknowledges that this is a riff on Vertigo, in which the initial person was a persona anyway.
    — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 24 Oct. 2026
  • But debt rose anyway, from 24% of GDP in 2009 to nearly 80% last year.
    — Tiisetso Motsoeneng, semafor.com, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of anyway
Adverb
  • The woman was stopped shortly after midnight following reports of a car driving erratically on Simpson Road.
    — Cristóbal Reyes, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Court documents read that O'Neal Flemming was recently acting erratically and was believed to have been experiencing a mental health crisis.
    — Jeramie Bizzle, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of erratically
Adverb
  • Every major opportunity in my life can be traced back to learning something new, whether formally or informally.
    — Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Many are setting boundaries too, with 69 percent of Gen Z and 72 percent of millennials planning to set screen-free rules or try to unplug informally during the holidays.
    — Michele Laufik, Martha Stewart, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of informally
Adverb
  • Just one month before her second birthday, Aaren died following an eight-day coma after accidentally falling into the swimming pool at her mother’s home.
    — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Nov. 2026
  • Michael Mann was hospitalized on Saturday after accidentally shooting himself at a gun range in Los Angeles, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
    — Carly Thomas, HollywoodReporter, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of accidentally
Adverb
  • And even though his signature coalition of the willing, the Board of Peace, has potential, it was thrown together haphazardly.
    — Charles Kupchan, Foreign Affairs, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Each of the nine beauty favorites below can be haphazardly thrown from your vanity into your bag and through TSA.
    — ElleAnna Revell, Condé Nast Traveler, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of haphazardly
Adverb
  • Magyar said his administration would retain Orbán-era immigration and asylum policies, including escorting migrants who entered irregularly back across the southern border into Serbia.
    — Justin Spike, Los Angeles Times, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Renderings show a brown building and a white building that are irregularly shaped and accented with colorful murals and awnings.
    — Catherine Odom, Miami Herald, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of irregularly
Adverb
  • The Nuggets had aimlessly wandered through the non-Nikola Jokic minutes for years without a firm identity to survive them.
    — Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 23 Sep. 2026
  • My fork hovered aimlessly over the plate while my eyes stayed fixed on the entrance.
    — Mayur Chauhan, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of aimlessly

Browse Nearby Words

random
randomly
randomness
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Randomly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/randomly. Accessed 4 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of fulsome

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

Ten More Words from Taylor Swift Songs

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
couple-laugh-cafe
Quiz: Foreign Phrases You Should Know Check out your bona fides and avoid any faux pas.
See All