randomness
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Explanation
Randomness is the quality of having no apparent order. If you want a really good password that no one can hack, you want a lot of randomness in it — no numbers or words that clearly pertain to your life. The word random comes from an old French word for running (from the time before perfect oval running tracks). So randomness is like the quality of running all over the place. If you want to conduct a survey of vegetable shoppers, you’ll want to insure a degree of randomness by interviewing shoppers at all different markets, not just the fancy health food store.
Vocabulary lists containing randomness
Board Game Vocabulary
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Sunrise Over Fallujah
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"Lay that Trumpet in Our Hands" by Susan Carol McCarthy, Chapters 12–25
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
All this variance and randomness, all these rules on top of regulations, none of it is exactly arbitrary, but neither is it fair.
From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2026
Scientists call this tendency to find meaningful patterns in randomness "apophenia."
From Science Daily • May 14, 2026
The MLB playoffs are notoriously fickle and subject to randomness that prevents dynasties.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
“There is a sort of randomness both from a political perspective and then in terms of market reactions to all of this,” said Michael Rosen, chief investment officer at Angeles Investments.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 10, 2026
“Are you trying to illustrate a principle of randomness, Doug Swieteck?”
From "Okay for Now" by Gary D. Schmidt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
