random

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

adj. haphazard, casual, chance, fortuitous, aimless. Ant., planned, expected, foreseen.

II

(Roget's IV) modif.

Syn. haphazard, chance, casual, arbitrary, desultory, aimless, indiscriminate, irregular, unsystematic, undirected, unplanned, planless, purposeless, orderless, accidental, fortuitous, blind, hit-or-miss, stray, erratic, aleatory, stochastic; see also aimless , haphazard , irregular 1 .

• at random,

Syn. haphazardly, by chance, aimlessly; see accidentally , haphazardly .

Syn.- random applies to that which occurs or is done without careful choice, aim, plan, etc. [ a random remark ] ; haphazard applies to that which is done, made, or said without regard for its consequences, relevance, etc. and therefore stresses the implication of accident or chance [ a haphazard selection of books ] ; casual implies happening or seeming to happen by chance without intention or purpose and often connotes nonchalance, indifference, etc. [ a casual glance at the newspaper ] ; desultory suggests a lack of method or system, as in jumping from one thing to another [ her desultory reading in the textbook ] ; chance emphasizes accidental occurrence without prearrangement or planning [ a chance encounter ]

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) a.

haphazard, casual, chance, accidental, unplanned, arbitrary, fortuitous, desultory, blind, hit-or-miss, aimless.

ANT.: planned, designed, premeditated

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) adjective Having no particular pattern, purpose, organization, or structure: chance, desultory, haphazard, hit-or-miss, indiscriminate, spot, unplanned. See PLANNED.