random

Still take advice ; though counsels, when they fly / At random, sometimes hit most happily.

1648, Robert Herrick, Hesperides, London: H. G. Clarke and Co., published 1844, page 134:

O ! many a shaft, at random sent, / Finds mark the archer little meant !

1815, Sir Walter Scott, The Lord of the Isles, page 216:

A roving motion; course without definite direction; lack of rule or method; chance.

they were messagers vnto kyng Ban & Bors sent from kynge Arthur / therfor said the viij knyghtes ye shalle dye or be prysoners / for we ben knyghtes of kyng Claudas And therwith two of them dressid theire sperys / and Vlfyus and Brastias dressid theire speres and ranne to gyder with grete raundon

1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter X, in Le Morte Darthur, book I (in Middle English):

they were messengers unto King Ban and Bors sent from King Arthur. Therefore, said the eight knights, ye shall die or be prisoners, for we be knights of King Claudas. And therewith two of them dressed their spears, and Ulfius and Brastias dressed their spears, and ran together with great random.

[…] for coragiouſly the two kynges newely foughte with great randon and force, they ſhewed their vigors and ſtrengthes and did ſo nobly that their coũter parties had none aduaũtage.

1548, Edward Hall, “The triumphant reigne of Kyng Henry the VIII”, in The Union of the two noble and Illustre Famelies of Lancastre and Yorke (Hall’s Chronicle), page 82v:

(obsolete) Speed, full speed; impetuosity, force.

Fortie yards will they shoot levell, or very neare the marke, and 120 is their best at Random.

1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, Kupperman, published 1988, page 144:

[…] the angle at which the miſſive is to mount by ( if we will have it go to its furtheſt randome ) muſt be the half of a right one […]

1644, Sir Kenelm Digby, Two Treatises, page 125:

(obsolete) The full range of a bullet or other projectile; hence, the angle at which a weapon is tilted to allow the greatest range.

The party was boring. It was full of randoms.

(figuratively, colloquial) An undefined, unknown or unimportant person; a person of no consequence.

Utilization of all floor space underneath case racks and randoms is another feature of the modern composing room; […]

1935, Newspaper World, numbers 1930-1955, page 41:

Printers' frames and randoms

2002, Republic of Korea, number 2, page 502:

(printing, historical) A frame for composing type.

en-noun

random (countable and uncountable, plural randoms)

randón

obsolete: speed, full speed; impetuosity, force

From earlier randon, from Middle English randoun, raundon, from Old French randon, from randir (“to run, gallop”) (whence French randonnée (“long walk, hike”)), from Frankish *randiju (“a run, race”) or Old Norse rend (“a run, race”), both from Proto-Germanic *randijō, from *rinnaną (“run”, verb), from Proto-Indo-European *(H)r̥-nw- (“to flow, move, run”). Cognate with Middle Low German uprinden (“to jump up”), Danish rende (“to run”). See run.


random

Our city is plagued by random acts of violence.

random acts of kindness

Occurring for no particular reason; haphazard, unpredictable.

Near-synonyms: aleatory, stochastic

The flip of a fair coin is purely random.

The newspaper conducted a random sample of five hundred American teenagers.

The results of the field survey look random by several different measures.

A toss of a loaded die is still random, though biased.

July 18 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Riseshttp://www.avclub.com/articles/the-dark-knight-rises-review-batman,82624/
Where the Joker preys on our fears of random, irrational acts of terror, Bane has an all-consuming, dictatorial agenda that’s more stable and permanent, a New World Order that’s been planned out with the precision of a military coup.

probability distribution
probability distribution#Noun

(statistics) Involving an outcome which is impossible to predict, but which may be represented by a probability distribution; in the ideal case, involving outcomes which are equally likely.

The rand function generates a random number from a seed.

(computing) Pseudorandom; mimicking the result of random selection.

A random American off the street couldn't tell the difference.

You're just going to trust the word of random people on the Internet?

I didn't have time to peruse the resturant's menu, so I just ordered some random dish.

Whatever random hobby you're into, there's an Internet community for it.

(informal) Selected for no particular reason; arbitrary; unspecified.

My notebook has turned into a random collection of thoughts.

I brought a bunch of random snacks, but nothing nutritious.

I mixed a bunch of random vegetables into a salad, and it actually turned out pretty good.

(informal) Being (part of) a varied, unrelated, and apparently arbitrary collection of things; diverse, heterogeneous.

This random guy just came up to me to say that he was a fan of my work.

Thank you for that completely random comment... now, let's get back to our actual topic of discussion.

The teacher's bartending story was interesting, but very random.

I feel like pineapple is a very random thing to put on a pizza.

Apropos of nothing
apropos of nothing#Phrase

(informal) Apropos of nothing; lacking context, relevance, or any connection to the previous situation; unexpected.

You're so random! I never know what you're going to do next.

(informal) Of a person: characterized by or often saying random things; habitually using non sequiturs.

That's a rather random fact!

I can't believe he would say that. That's so random!

out of the ordinary
out of the ordinary#Adjective

(UK, slang) Being out of the ordinary; unusual or unexpected; odd, strange, bizarre.

en-adj

random (comparative more random, superlative most random)

more random (comparative)
most random (superlative)

→ German: random

→ Hungarian: random

عَشْوَائِيّ

mathematics: of or relating to probability distribution


random

(colloquial, chiefly youth slang) random (apropos of nothing, lacking context)

Unadapted borrowing from English random.


random

un random sur internet

(colloquial, chiefly youth slang) random person; random guy, rando


random

Das Prinzip ist simpel: Einmal am Tag zu einer random Uhrzeit erscheint bei allen Nutzer*innen eine Pushnachricht, dazu startet ein Zweiminutencountdown.

2022 November 28, Carolina Schwarz, “Social-Media-App BeReal: Solange es noch schön ist”, in Die Tageszeitung: taz, →ISSN:

Manche Länder haben dabei einen zentralen Auftritt, andere ein Sammelsurium aus vielen Einzelanbietern; es sind aber ohnehin nicht alle Länder da, nicht einmal alle Bundesländer. Es ist letztlich ziemlich random, beliebig, was hier geboten wird.

2023 January 29, Michael Brake, “Auf der Grünen Woche in Berlin: Im Sog der Häppchen”, in Die Tageszeitung: taz, →ISSN:

random (selected for no particular reason)


random

(informal) undistinguished, average, arbitrary, whichever, any

hu-adj

random (comparative randomabb, superlative legrandomabb)

randomabb (comparative)
legrandomabb (superlative)
random (nominative singular)
randomok (nominative plural)
randomot (accusative singular)
randomokat (accusative plural)
randomnak (dative singular)
randomoknak (dative plural)
randommal (instrumental singular)
randomokkal (instrumental plural)
randomért (causal-final singular)
randomokért (causal-final plural)
randommá (singular translative)
randomokká (plural translative)
randomig (singular terminative)
randomokig (plural terminative)
randomként (essive-formal singular)
randomokként (essive-formal plural)
randomban (inessive singular)
randomokban (inessive plural)
randomon (singular superessive)
randomokon (plural superessive)
randomnál (adessive singular)
randomoknál (adessive plural)
randomba (illative singular)
randomokba (illative plural)
randomra (singular sublative)
randomokra (plural sublative)
randomhoz (allative singular)
randomokhoz (allative plural)
randomból (elative singular)
randomokból (elative plural)
randomról (delative singular)
randomokról (delative plural)
randomtól (ablative singular)
randomoktól (ablative plural)
randomé (possessed-single possessive predicative singular)
randomoké (plural possessed-single possessive predicative)
randoméi (possessed-single possessive predicative singular)
randomokéi (plural possessed-single possessive predicative)


random

Z randomami z neta nie gadam.

(colloquial, slang) random, rando (undefined, unknown, or unimportant person; a person of no consequence)

random (nominative singular)
randomi (nominative plural)
randomy (derogatory nominative plural)
randoma (genitive singular)
randomów (genitive plural)
randomowi (dative singular)
randomom (dative plural)
randoma (accusative singular)
randomów (accusative plural)
randomem (instrumental singular)
randomami (instrumental plural)
randomie (locative singular)
randomach (locative plural)
randomie (singular vocative)
randomi (plural vocative)


random

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.


random

(Internet slang, youth slang, colloquial) random

es-adj

random m or f (masculine and feminine plural randoms)


random

(Internet slang, youth slang, colloquial) random person; random guy, rando