scattered 1 of 2

scattered

2 of 2

verb

past tense of scatter
1
2
as in sprayed
to cover by or as if by scattering something over or on the hillside was scattered with boulders deposited by the last ice age

Synonyms & Similar Words

3
as in dissipated
to go off in different directions and cease to exist as a body or unified whole these drunken revelers will quickly scatter when the police arrive

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 scattered
Adjective
That rainfall was predicted to arrive in the form of light, scattered showers. — Austin Turner, CBS News, 11 Oct. 2026 Security is thin and scattered downtown, and that morning was no different. — Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 15 Sep. 2026 The scattered pieces of the former storm will likely drift over the Caribbean and soak Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Hispaniola with a few inches of rain, some of which will reach Florida. — Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 31 Aug. 2026 The right words can turn scattered details into a workable plan. — Tarot.com, The Orlando Sentinel, 27 Aug. 2026 While scattered thunderstorms may provide temporary improvement in localized areas, smoke conditions are expected to remain variable over Lake Huron as winds shift. — Natalie Davies, Freep.com, 17 July 2026 The right conversation could turn scattered effort into a working plan. — Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 5 July 2026 If your data is messy, scattered or stale, the AI output fails. — Sagi Eliyahu, Forbes.com, 26 June 2026 At Mariposa Market in Willits, grocery items, wine bottles and other merchandise tumbled from shelves, leaving aisles littered with broken glass and scattered products. — Sofia Williams, Sacbee.com, 24 June 2026
Verb
Her killer left evidence scattered at the scene of the crime and along a highway back to Chicago. — Natasha Holt, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026 This included the intersection of Stockton Boulevard and Fruitridge Road, where roughly 50 people were scattered holding signs. — Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 17 Oct. 2026 From water bottles and shopping bags to tools, chargers, and emergency supplies, everyday items can quickly become scattered throughout your vehicle. — New Atlas, 16 Oct. 2026 Answers are scattered across systems that were never built to talk to each other. — Ryan Austin, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026 From that point on, this martial arts video game adaptation becomes disastrously scattered, between setups and payoffs at complete odds, confounding ADR, and a total lack of any actual conclusion. — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 15 Oct. 2026 In a standard-sized, relatively flat yard, a few small swales, scattered around, can meaningfully slow down water. — Pedro Moura, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026 During the response, a tree crushed the vehicle as responders scattered. — Erika Angulo, NBC news, 11 Oct. 2026 The designer remains, following cremation on September 17, were scattered at sea off the coast of San Diego County in California. — Greg Evans, Deadline, 10 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scattered
Adjective
  • Belting out random songs while delivering high-level physical comedy and acting takes skill.
    — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Furthermore, the whiskers are in front, preventing the drone from detecting sideways obstacles like random jagged branches in a forest.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 14 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • There are seven bedrooms and six full bathrooms dispersed throughout, with additional spaces including a billiards room with a bar, a cozy reading nook, and a sun porch with wraparound windows.
    — Tori Latham, Robb Report, 16 Oct. 2026
  • This jagged microscopic debris, easily dispersed by meteorite impacts and rocket exhaust, is corrosive, abrasive and adhesive.
    — Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 8 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Prosecutors say Campbell then sprayed Mobley with mace and stabbed him in the neck.
    — Asal Rezaei, CBS News, 12 Oct. 2026
  • The shared affinity was clear in the celebration, as Mesa sprayed Cash with alcohol, and Vilade and Erik Neander, the team’s president of baseball operations, embraced while Vilade was interviewed.
    — Nicolas Villamil, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Nearly half a million utility customers were without power after Isaias slowly pushed through the Southeast and dissipated into a post-tropical cyclone tonight.
    — Erika Angulo, NBC news, 11 Oct. 2026
  • The late-week threat is tied to a slow-moving front and remnant moisture from former Hurricane Polo, which dissipated over northwestern Mexico Tuesday night.
    — Newsroom Meteorologist, Houston Chronicle, 30 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • But labor campaigners said in the statement that their wage demand wasn’t arbitrary.
    — Jasmin Malik Chua, Footwear News, 8 Oct. 2026
  • The initiative has not yet produced a universal virtual cell capable of accurately predicting arbitrary biological responses.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 7 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • There’s Ellipse, a lineup of sculptural gold links sprinkled with diamond pavé; Modern Pavé, with its playful arrangements of diamonds; and SIX by Royal Asscher, an exclusive collection with the legendary Dutch diamond-cutting house.
    — Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The Fort Worth list indicates restaurants mostly downtown, the Shops at Clearfork and a few sprinkled in the Stockyards.
    — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Earhart and flight engineer Fred Noonan disappeared 89 years ago during an attempt to fly across the world.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Ask which mechanisms are still running, which were improved, which disappeared and why.
    — Rob Versaw, Forbes.com, 13 Oct. 2026
Adjective
  • Moments after driving away, the occupants realized Valdes had been struck in the abdomen by a stray bullet.
    — Ana Maria Soler, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Staffonly’s designers Shimo Zhou and Une Yea made stray dogs the stars of their show, drawing a parallel with these animals considered difficult to adopt with the pressure people face to conform.
    — Tianwei Zhang, Footwear News, 16 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Scattered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scattered. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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