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Definition
irregular or unpredictable- She was furious, and when she was furious Calpurnia's grammar became erratic.Harper Lee -- To Kill a Mockingbird
erratic = irregular
- He walked erratically, as if his right legs were shorter than his left legs.Harper Lee -- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Bad in that nervous armed men did erratic things, and were thus hard to predict.David Baldacci -- Zero Day
- His expressive features kindled up, as he recognized the spot where this trifling incident of his erratic life had chanced.Nathaniel Hawthorne -- The House of the Seven Gables
- The cops said he was driving erratically.Malcolm Gladwell -- Blink
- Some erratic impulse prompted Ethan to say: "How'd you like me to take you down now?"Edith Wharton -- Ethan Frome
- The perceptions come without warnings or explanations, erratic as lightning.Christina Garcia -- Dreaming in Cuban
- Worsening Kate's mood, if that was possible, was a distant, irritating beeping sound, the erratic honking of a faraway horn.Trenton Lee Stewart -- The Mysterious Benedict Society
- "This thing I do, it's faulty, it's erratic!Stephenie Meyer -- Breaking Dawn
- Between the third and fourth day, my mood jumped back and forth erratically from wild exhilaration to gloomy apprehension.Chaim Potok -- The Chosen
- His hands shook and his behavior was erratic.James Bradley -- Flags of Our Fathers
- Her tapping speeded up and its beat became erratic and nervous.John Steinbeck -- East of Eden
- It doesn't add, "Shields was passed over because of unanswered questions about his expense account" or "his erratic behavior at the company picnic.Jay Allison, et al. -- This I Believe
- With a forefinger he attempted to check the erratic movement of his bad eye, but to no avail; it continued.David Guterson -- Snow Falling on Cedars
- Being near them, hearing the erratic spatter of their voices, yielding to their flickering moods was like basking in a hectic familiar oblivion.Henry Roth -- Call It Sleep
- His behavior had turned weird, erratic.Cassandra Clare -- City of Bones
- The captain had been acting very erratic since his mysterious phone call.Dan Brown -- Angels & Demons
- He has not yet lost the habits of his erratic life; the traditions of his fathers and his passion for the chase are still alive within him.Alexis de Toqueville -- Democracy In America, Volume 1
- Their nervous systems are affected so that they become erratic and unpredictable, and they lose the protection of a sense of fear.Farley Mowat -- Never Cry Wolf
- After throwing three erratic pitches to Baltazar, his coach decided to relieve him at the mound.W. William Winokur -- The Perfect Game
erratically = in an irregular manner