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IRREGULAR
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Merchandise that has imperfections; usually sold at a reduced price without the brand name
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("irregular" is a kind of...):
merchandise; product; ware (commodities offered for sale)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A member of an irregular armed force that fights a stronger force by sabotage and harassment
Synonyms:
guerilla; guerrilla; insurgent; irregular
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("irregular" is a kind of...):
warrior (someone engaged in or experienced in warfare)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "irregular"):
Maquis; Maquisard (a guerrilla fighter in the French underground in World War II)
urban guerrilla (a guerrilla who fights only in cities and towns)
Holonyms ("irregular" is a member of...):
guerilla force; guerrilla force (an irregular armed force that fights by sabotage and harassment; often rural and organized in large groups)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Not occurring at a regular rate or fixed intervals
Example:
an irregular heartbeat
Synonyms:
irregular; unpredictable
Classified under:
Similar:
sporadic (recurring in scattered and irregular or unpredictable instances)
Derivation:
irregularity (irregular and infrequent or difficult evacuation of the bowels; can be a symptom of intestinal obstruction or diverticulitis)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Independent in behavior or thought
Example:
maverick politicians
Synonyms:
irregular; maverick; unorthodox
Classified under:
Similar:
unconventional (not conforming to accepted rules or standards)
Derivation:
irregularity (not characterized by a fixed principle or rate; at irregular intervals)
Sense 3
Meaning:
(of a surface or shape); not level or flat or symmetrical
Example:
walking was difficult on the irregular cobblestoned surface
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
uneven (not even or uniform as e.g. in shape or texture)
Derivation:
irregularity (an irregular asymmetry in shape; an irregular spatial pattern)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Lacking continuity or regularity
Example:
employed on a temporary basis
Synonyms:
irregular; temporary
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
part-time; part time (involving less than the standard or customary time for an activity)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Deviating from normal expectations; somewhat odd, strange, or abnormal
Example:
highly irregular behavior
Synonyms:
atypical; irregular
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
abnormal; unnatural (not normal; not typical or usual or regular or conforming to a norm)
Derivation:
irregularity (behavior that breaches the rule or etiquette or custom or morality)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Failing to meet a standard of manufacture due to an imperfection
Example:
an irregular pair of jeans
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
imperfect (not perfect; defective or inadequate)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Contrary to rule or accepted order or general practice
Example:
irregular hiring practices
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
asymmetrical; crooked (irregular in shape or outline)
casual; occasional (occurring on a temporary or irregular basis)
improper; unconventional; unlawful (not conforming to legality, moral law, or social convention)
randomised; randomized (set up or distributed in a deliberately random way)
strong (of verbs not having standard (or regular) inflection)
Also:
unsystematic (lacking systematic arrangement or method or organization)
asymmetric; asymmetrical (characterized by asymmetry in the spatial arrangement or placement of parts or components)
unsteady (subject to change or variation)
rough; unsmooth (having or caused by an irregular surface)
unrhythmic; unrhythmical (not rhythmic; irregular in beat or accent)
illegal (prohibited by law or by official or accepted rules)
Attribute:
regularity (the quality of being characterized by a fixed principle or rate)
Antonym:
regular (in accordance with fixed order or procedure or principle)
Derivation:
irregularity (behavior that breaches the rule or etiquette or custom or morality)
irregularity (not characterized by a fixed principle or rate; at irregular intervals)
Sense 8
Meaning:
(of solids) not having clear dimensions that can be measured; volume must be determined with the principle of liquid displacement
Classified under:
Adjectives
Antonym:
regular ((of solids) having clear dimensions that can be measured; volume can be determined with a suitable geometric formula)
Derivation:
irregularity (an irregular asymmetry in shape; an irregular spatial pattern)
Sense 9
Meaning:
(used of the military) not belonging to or engaged in by regular army forces
Example:
irregular warfare
Classified under:
Adjectives
Also:
partisan; partizan (devoted to a cause or party)
Antonym:
regular ((used of the military) belonging to or engaged in by legitimate army forces)
Context examples:
Include movements that are choreic (rapid, objectively purposeless, irregular, spontaneous) or athetoid (slow, irregular, complex, serpentine).
(AIMS - Upper Extremities, NCI Thesaurus)
It means that your heart beats too quickly, too slowly, or with an irregular pattern.
(Arrhythmia, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
A benign condition characterized by the development of irregular patches in the surface of the tongue resulting in a map-like appearance.
(Benign Migratory Glossitis, NCI Thesaurus)
The irregular lower chamber of the middle ear.
(Atrium of the Middle Ear, NCI Thesaurus)
The irregular network or rows of fine ribonucleoprotein granules or microfilaments forming most of the nucleolus.
(Nucleolonema, NCI Thesaurus)
Symptoms include pelvic and abdominal pain and irregular periods.
(Ovarian Cyst, NCI Thesaurus)
About two o’clock the mist cleared away, and we beheld, stretched out in every direction, vast and irregular plains of ice, which seemed to have no end.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
An instrument for measuring the area of an irregular plane figure.
(Planimeter, NCI Thesaurus)
“Very irregular, very unseemly; your master would be far from pleased.”
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
To right and left stretched a broken, irregular line of many-coloured houses winding along either bank as far as I could see.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
