as in intermittently
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Recent Examples of Synonyms for spottily
Adverb
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Michael Loria The war with Iran has sparked fighting throughout the Middle East, including in Lebanon where Israel and Iran ally Hezbollah have been fighting intermittently for generations.—
Cybele Mayes-Osterman,
USA Today,
21 Mar. 2026 -
Michael Bluth is exceptional because of the wealth his family used to enjoy, but also because of his seeming—and, to be fair, intermittently absent—levelheadedness despite the bubble in which the rest of his family still stubbornly, tenuously lives.—
Vinson Cunningham,
New Yorker,
20 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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The filmmaker shows a strong handle over the film’s fanciful tone and fitfully filthy sense of humor, and he’s credited with composing the film’s score full of squawking brass instruments and skittish strings in addition to writing, directing and editing.—
Stephen Saito,
Variety,
16 Mar. 2026
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Bella Ramsey takes a break from killing zombies and avenging father figures, their usual pastimes in series The Last of Us, to fool around and fall in love in Sunny Dancer, a decidedly uneven but fitfully charming, YA-skewed British comedy-drama.—
Leslie Felperin,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Feb. 2026
Adverb
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Wet, frozen branches can snap unpredictably when under pressure and jagged edges cut through lightweight work gloves.—
Timothy Dale,
The Spruce,
15 Mar. 2026
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In dysfunctional families, conflict often arises unpredictably, says O’Callaghan.—
Sherri Gordon,
Parents,
15 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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On April 28, its board of governors met via Zoom and determined that films that had been intended for a theatrical release prior to COVID would be allowed to qualify that year via the Academy’s members-only streaming service — which, fortuitously, had been opened to all films only months before.—
Scott Feinberg,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Mar. 2026
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Then, fortuitously, twice as much snow fell in the mountains that winter as usual.—
Evan Bush,
NBC news,
7 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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Screen or email apnea happens when someone unconsciously holds their breath or breathes more shallowly while looking at their screen to answer emails or texts, explained Dora Kamau, lead mindfulness and meditation teacher at Headspace.—
Helen Carefoot,
Flow Space,
23 Feb. 2026
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Any direct influence probably came out unconsciously.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
19 Feb. 2026
Adverb
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Hellebuyck misplayed the puck behind the net on a wraparound, inadvertently knocking it out front for Reichel to swat in.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
20 Mar. 2026
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Hellebuyck misplayed the puck behind the net on a wraparound, inadvertently knocking it out front for Reichel to swat in.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
19 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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And Pearl, while making his team’s case Thursday, unwittingly did a fine job of spelling out the ills of expansion as well.—
Joe Rexrode,
New York Times,
13 Mar. 2026
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In one of the play’s loveliest moments, the narrator unwittingly shares his secret project with his college crush, a young woman named Sam who responds in such a compassionate and simpatico manner that a life together is all but assured.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
12 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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But new research suggests that regularly using pre-workout could unintentionally counteract your healthy living goals.—
Korin Miller,
SELF,
17 Mar. 2026
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The interview was subsequently deleted from the journalist’s YouTube page, either because people didn’t get the joke or because the joke was unintentionally revealing.—
Nate Jones,
Vulture,
16 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Spottily.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spottily. Accessed 22 Mar. 2026.
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