# sporadic

/spɝˈædɪk/ (US) · /spɔːɹˈædɪk/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/sporadic
Updated: 2026-08-27

## Senses

### 1. happening occasionally

adjective · CEFR B2

happening sometimes, but not regularly or often.

For teachers: occurring at irregular intervals or only in a few places; having no set plan or order.

- We heard sporadic gunfire in the distance throughout the night.
- The project suffered from sporadic funding, which prevented the team from maintaining a consistent development schedule over the three-year period.

### 2. isolated disease cases

adjective · CEFR C1 · Technical

describes a disease that appears in just a few people or places, rather than spreading everywhere.

For teachers: occurring in isolated instances; not widely diffused or epidemic in nature.

- The doctors reported only sporadic cases of the flu this summer.
- Public health officials monitored the sporadic outbreaks of the virus to ensure they did not coalesce into a full-scale epidemic.

### 3. mathematical exceptions

adjective · CEFR C2 · Technical

describes a mathematical object that does not fit into a regular group or family.

For teachers: denoting an object that does not belong to any infinite family of similar objects; an exception to a general classification.

- The sporadic groups in mathematics are rare and do not follow the usual patterns.
- The classification of finite simple groups revealed twenty-six sporadic groups that exist outside the four main infinite families.

## Examples

- The city experienced sporadic rain showers throughout the afternoon.
- Despite the ceasefire, sporadic gunfire could still be heard in the distance during the night.
- The researcher noted that while the symptoms were sporadic and difficult to predict, they appeared to correlate with sudden changes in the local atmospheric pressure.

---

From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.