at random

adverb

in a random manner (Freq. 1)

-

the houses were randomly scattered

-

bullets were fired into the crowd at random

• Syn: ↑randomly, ↑indiscriminately, ↑haphazardly, ↑willy-nilly, ↑arbitrarily, ↑every which way

• Derived from adjective: ↑haphazard (for: ↑haphazardly), ↑indiscriminate (for: ↑indiscriminately), ↑random (for: ↑randomly)

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UNSYSTEMATICALLY, arbitrarily, randomly, unmethodically, haphazardly.

→ random

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adverb

1. : without definite aim, direction, rule, or method : with no specific goal or purpose in view

upon the table soiled dishes were piled at random — William Faulkner

worn cow paths led through at random — Christopher Rand

2. obsolete : without restraint or attention : at liberty

to be left at random

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at random phrase

without a particular method, pattern, or purpose

They picked names out of the telephone book at random.

Thesaurus: not planned_synonym

Main entry: random

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without method or conscious decision

he opened the book at random

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at random

: in a way that does not follow a particular plan or pattern

Our names were chosen/selected/picked at random from the list.

People drifted in and out of the gallery at random all evening.

• • •

Main Entry: ↑random

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at ˈrandom idiom

without deciding in advance what is going to happen, or without any regular pattern

•

She opened the book at random

(= not at any particular page)

and started reading.

•

The terrorists fired into the crowd at random.

•

Names were chosen at random from a list.

Main entry: ↑random_idiom