ENGLISH
REFERENCE

randomly

adv.
US //ˈɹændəmɫi// UK //ɹˈændəmli// ran·dom·ly
  1. 1 by chance (adv.)
    B1 Intermediate

    without a plan, pattern, or reason.

    in a manner lacking any definite plan, purpose, or pattern; by chance.

    Example

    The computer chooses a winner randomly from all the people who entered the contest.

    Example

    The survey participants were selected randomly from the national database to ensure the results were not biased toward any specific demographic group.
  2. 2 non-sequentially (adv.)
    C1 Advanced Technical Computing

    in a way that lets you access any part of information at any time, rather than following a list.

    referring to the ability to access data elements in any order without having to process preceding items.

    Example

    The software accesses the files randomly to speed up the search process.

    Example

    Unlike magnetic tape which must be wound to a specific point, modern hard drives can access data blocks randomly with minimal latency.

    Usage

    Often used to describe memory access (RAM) or data retrieval from a disk.
    • non sequentially
Origin

From random + -ly.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Related words

Last updated June 20, 2026