(a.) Having no certain course; roving about without a fixed destination; wandering; moving; -- hence, applied to the planets as distinguished from the fixed stars.
(a.) Deviating from a wise of the common course in opinion or conduct; eccentric; strange; queer; as, erratic conduct.
(a.) Irregular; changeable.
(n.) One who deviates from common and accepted opinions; one who is eccentric or preserve in his intellectual character.
(n.) A rogue.
(n.) Any stone or material that has been borne away from its original site by natural agencies; esp., a large block or fragment of rock; a bowlder.
Example Sentences:
(1) This erratic course renders difficult assessment of the efficacy of methods of treatment.
(2) As trigger sensitivity was decreased within its usual range, a marked and progressive ventilator response delay occurred which was associated with erratic changes in functional residual capacity as well as dyspnea and tachypnea.
(3) Obstacles to successful treatment include an erratic schedule, mistrust of authority, and uncooperative or aggressive behavior.
(4) In the wake of a second fatal police shooting in the St Louis area after the death of Michael Brown , concerned citizens are asking why officers had to kill Kajieme Powell, a 25-year-old man who was holding a knife and “behaving erratically.” They want to know why officers don’t shoot someone like Powell in the leg or the arm, rather than aiming for vital organs, or why they don’t just use a less lethal weapon, like a Taser.
(5) We attribute the persistence of infection in our patient to erratic usage of antituberculous drugs.
(6) Coronary blood flow and coronary perfusion pressure were significantly correlated during the administration of lignocaine; bupivacaine had erratic effects on coronary blood flow and no correlation between coronary blood flow and coronary perfusion pressure was seen.
(7) Flynn’s subsequent penchant for inflammatory, erratic and even bigoted statements left few, particularly in security circles, willing to defend him.
(8) The president of the European parliament, Martin Schulz, reflecting the deep anger felt in Brussels at the erratic negotiating tactics adopted by Tsipras and Varoufakis, said Greek voters should blame Tsipras for bringing the country to its knees.
(9) Cells in optimal (5 x 10(-9) M) but uniform concentrations of N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP) polarized well and showed a 'persistent random walk' type of locomotion, whereas in supraoptimal concentrations (10(-7) M), the cells took erratic paths and polarized poorly, suggesting that monocytes cannot develop an anteroposterior polarity if hit by ligand molecules at many points on the cell surface simultaneously.
(10) It is perhaps not surprising that self-diagnosis and self-medication are common and follow-up attendance is erratic.
(11) As far back as 2008, the Wall Street Journal was running front-page pieces , beginning: "Major banks are contributing to the erratic behaviour of a crucial global lending benchmark".
(12) The fact that it failed is related to the atomised society left behind by 40 years of the most brutal and erratic of dictatorships.
(13) At lower levels the results were somewhat more erratic due to inaccuracies of the various methods at low concentrations.
(14) At any rate, the only sparse range of body expressions, the smallness and preference of night activity of these animals and the erratic occurrence of essential behaviour patterns make the investigations more difficult.
(15) It has been encouraged by Trump’s often erratic, unfocused behaviour , and the resulting opportunities and dangers arising from weakened American global leadership.
(16) Though absorption of ampicillin from capsules was often erratic, its bioavailability was similar in normal and cirrhotic subjects.
(17) Moreover, the emotional climate of adolescence, which requires affiliation with peer groups, and a distancing from authority figures such as doctors and parents, is often associated with a deterioration in drug and dietary compliance and with erratic clinic attendance.
(18) I learned that the hard way: when I was younger, I played the part of the erratic, irascible drunk in order to have something to write about.
(19) Once well-paid, stable work with decent terms and conditions is gradually being replaced by minimum-wage, erratic jobs.
(20) Psychiatric patients may also be at special risk for the development of digitoxicity because of erratic drug taking, electrolyte imbalance or increased autonomic tone.
Fickle
Definition:
(a.) Not fixed or firm; liable to change; unstable; of a changeable mind; not firm in opinion or purpose; inconstant; capricious; as, Fortune's fickle wheel.
Example Sentences:
(1) Light testing equipment is fickle by nature, making such units uncommon.
(2) Over the last five years in particular, the main parties' opinion poll ratings have been strikingly fickle.
(3) This was a risky proposition that depended on the good will of gentrifiers, who are famously fickle.
(4) Vinny's fame was quick, fickle and fizzled out a generation ago, hence leaving him quite literally sleeping in a skip, pickled by booze.
(5) It is also unthinking because it takes little account of the pending impact of the falling terms of trade and the sluggish domestic economy, which is being held back by chronic weakness in consumer sentiment and fickle business conditions.
(6) They were there to record everything from his despair at the fickleness of his recruits, to the distress of his wife Jools at the way the media had invaded their privacy, with scurrilous rumours of infidelity.
(7) Bowie wasn't a traditional pop star, happy to be known for one sound or idea then to be discarded by a fickle public.
(8) Washington has long been a fan of the petro-dollar and Obama is proving another fickle enthusiast, flirting with the industry one moment, even as he snaps at it the next – like the coquettish mistress of an oil tycoon.
(9) Could he build a winner to win over sometimes fickle Miami fans?
(10) Raquel Paiva, professor of communications at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, said Brazil was a fickle nation that would probably soon forget this humiliation.
(11) The digital audience is more fickle: we have multiple subscriptions to magazines and newspapers; we leave a spray of comments on different websites.
(12) It is a strange and fickle beast, a flexible friend, dubious and duplicitous, as I was about to find out.
(13) How fickle the rest of the country is to forget its history at the expense of cheaper foreign imports.
(14) These moves are significant because the above list includes some strongly backed National candidates – especially Goold, who led the Headlong company, and Featherstone – but no recent appointee to another theatre could now express interest in Hytner's job without disqualifying themselves because of the appearance of fickleness.
(15) Bernard had become well aware of the fickle ways of Fleet Street and had become canny.
(16) At nearly 50, Ross will need to remain in the public eye lest the fickle world of TV starts to forget about him, but there are other ways of staying noticed in the digital era.
(17) The Scottish National party has repeatedly claimed that English and Welsh politicians would force Scotland to accept cuts or the loss of the Barnett formula if there was a no vote, accusing Westminster parties of being fickle.
(18) While the site is still sizeable it has lost users, business and momentum – extremely dangerous territory for anyone in the fickle internet business.
(19) Given the fickle and hypercritical nature of the group, in conceiving Spamalot Idle had to manage his expectations.
(20) She experienced something that transcended her pretty fickle and changeable musical allegiances.