Adjacent Words

Irregular definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

IRREG'ULAR, a. [L. irregularis; in and regularis, regula. See Regular.]
1. Not regular; not according to common form or rules; as an irregular building or fortification.
2. Not according to established principles or customs; deviating from usage; as the irregular proceedings of a legislative body.
3. Not conformable to nature or the usual operation of natural laws; as an irregular action of the heart and arteries.
4. Not according to the rules of art; immethodical; as irregular verse; an irregular discourse.
5. Not in conformity to laws,human or divine; deviating from the rules of moral rectitude; vicious; as irregular conduct or propensities.
6. Not straight; as an irregular line or course.
7. Not uniform; as irregular motion.
8. In grammar, an irregular noun or verb is one which deviates from the common rules in its inflections.
IRREG'ULAR, n. A soldier not in regular service.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: contrary to rule or accepted order or general practice; "irregular hiring practices" [ant: regular]
2: not occurring at expected times [syn: irregular, unpredictable]
3: (used of the military) not belonging to or engaged in by regular army forces; "irregular troops"; "irregular warfare" [ant: regular]
4: (of solids) not having clear dimensions that can be measured; volume must be determined with the principle of liquid displacement [ant: regular]
5: falling below the manufacturer's standard; "irregular jeans"
6: deviating from normal expectations; somewhat odd, strange, or abnormal; "these days large families are atypical"; "atypical clinical findings"; "atypical pneumonia"; "highly irregular behavior" [syn: atypical, irregular]
7: lacking continuity or regularity; "an irregular worker"; "employed on a temporary basis" [syn: irregular, temporary]
8: (of a surface or shape); not level or flat or symmetrical; "walking was difficult on the irregular cobblestoned surface"
9: independent in behavior or thought; "she led a somewhat irregular private life"; "maverick politicians" [syn: irregular, maverick, unorthodox] n
1: a member of an irregular armed force that fights a stronger force by sabotage and harassment [syn: guerrilla, guerilla, irregular, insurgent]
2: merchandise that has imperfections; usually sold at a reduced price without the brand name [syn: irregular, second]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English irreguler, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin irregularis not in accordance with rule, from Latin in- + regularis regular Date: 14th century 1. a. not being or acting in accord with laws, rules, or established custom <irregular conduct> b. not conforming to the usual pattern of inflection <irregular verbs>; specifically strong 16 c. not following a usual or prescribed procedure; especially British celebrated without either proclamation of the banns or publication of intention to marry <irregular marriage> 2. not belonging to or a part of a regular organized group; specifically not belonging to a regular army but raised for a special purpose <irregular troops> 3. a. lacking perfect symmetry or evenness <an irregular coastline> b. having one or more floral parts of the same whorl different in size, shape, or arrangement; specifically zygomorphic 4. lacking continuity or regularity especially of occurrence or activity <irregular employment> • irregularly adverb Synonyms: irregular, anomalous, unnatural mean not conforming to rule, law, or custom. irregular implies not conforming to a law or regulation imposed for the sake of uniformity in method, practice, or conduct <concerned about his irregular behavior>. anomalous implies not conforming to what might be expected because of the class or type to which it belongs or the laws that govern its existence <her drive made her an anomalous figure in a sleepy organization>. unnatural suggests what is contrary to nature or to principles or standards felt to be essential to the well-being of civilized society <prisoners treated with unnatural cruelty>. II. noun Date: 15th century one that is irregular: as a. a soldier who is not a member of a regular military force b. plural merchandise that has minor defects or that falls next below the manufacturer's standard for firsts

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 not regular; unsymmetrical, uneven; varying in form. 2 (of a surface) uneven. 3 contrary to a rule, moral principle, or custom; abnormal. 4 uneven in duration, order, etc. 5 (of troops) not belonging to the regular army. 6 Gram. (of a verb, noun, etc.) not inflected according to the usual rules. 7 disorderly. 8 (of a flower) having unequal petals etc. --n. (in pl.) irregular troops. Derivatives: irregularity n. (pl. -ies). irregularly adv. Etymology: ME f. OF irreguler f. LL irregularis (as IN-(1), REGULAR)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Irregular Ir*reg"u*lar, n. One who is not regular; especially, a soldier not in regular service.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Irregular Ir*reg"u*lar, a. [Pref. ir- not + regular: cf. F. irr['e]gulier.] Not regular; not conforming to a law, method, or usage recognized as the general rule; not according to common form; not conformable to nature, to the rules of moral rectitude, or to established principles; not normal; unnatural; immethodical; unsymmetrical; erratic; no straight; not uniform; as, an irregular line; an irregular figure; an irregular verse; an irregular physician; an irregular proceeding; irregular motion; irregular conduct, etc. Cf. Regular. Mazes intricate, Eccentric, intervolved, yet regular Then most when most irregular they seem. --Milton. Leading the men of Herefordshire to fight Against the irregular and wild Glendower. --Shak. A flowery meadow through which a clear stream murmured in many irregular meanders. --Jones. Syn: Immethodical; unsystematic; abnormal; unnatural; anomalous; erratic; devious; crooked; eccentric; unsettled; uneven; variable; changeable; mutable; desultory; disorderly; wild; immoderate; intemperate; inordinate; vicious.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. If events or actions occur at irregular intervals, the periods of time between them are of different lengths. Cars passed at irregular intervals... He worked irregular hours. ? regular ADJ • irregularly He was eating irregularly, steadily losing weight. ADV: ADV with v • irregularity (irregularities) ...a dangerous irregularity in her heartbeat. N-VAR 2. Something that is irregular is not smooth or straight, or does not form a regular pattern. He had bad teeth, irregular and discolored. = uneven ? regular ADJ • irregularly Located off-center in the irregularly shaped lake was a fountain. ADV: usu ADV -ed • irregularity ...treatment of abnormalities or irregularities of the teeth. N-VAR 3. Irregular behaviour is dishonest or not in accordance with the normal rules. ...the minister accused of irregular business practices... ADJ • irregularity ...charges arising from alleged financial irregularities. N-VAR 4. An irregular verb, noun, or adjective has different forms from most other verbs, nouns, or adjectives in the language. For example, 'break' is an irregular verb because its past form is 'broke', not 'breaked'. ? regular ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Anomalous, abnormal, anomalistic, unusual, unconformable, aberrant, exceptional, eccentric, erratic, devious. 2. Uncertain, unpunctual, capricious, desultory, fitful, variable, changeable. 3. Immethodical, disordered, disorderly. 4. Unsymmetrical, uneven. 5. Disorderly, dissolute, loose, immoral, wild.

Moby Thesaurus

Bohemian, Charley, Mickey Mouse, VC, Vietcong, aberrant, abnormal, actionable, adrift, affable, afloat, against the law, aimless, alternating, amorphous, anamorphous, anarchic, anarchistic, anomalistic, anomalous, anomic, askew, asymmetric, asymmetrical, atypical, base, bent, bizarre, black-market, bootleg, bowed, broken, broken off, bumpy, bushfighter, bushwhacker, capricious, careening, casual, catchy, changeable, changeful, changing, chargeable, cheap, cheesy, chopped-off, choppy, coarse, coarse-grained, cockeyed, common, contorted, contraband, contrary to law, cordial, corrugated, craggy, crank, crankish, cranky, crazy, criminal, crooked, cross-grained, crotchety, crumpled, crunched, decousu, degage, designless, desultory, deviable, deviant, deviating, deviative, deviatory, different, disarticulated, disconnected, discontinued, discontinuous, discrete, disjunct, disjunctive, disordered, disorderly, disparate, dispersed, disproportional, disproportionate, distorted, divaricate, divergent, diversified, diversiform, dizzy, dotty, easy, easygoing, eccentric, episodic, erose, erratic, exceptional, extraordinary, familiar, fast and loose, felonious, fey, fickle, fitful, flaky, flawed, flickering, flighty, flitting, fluctuating, folksy, formless, fourth-class, freakish, freaky, free and easy, frivolous, funny, giddy, gracious, grainy, granulated, gratuitous, guerrilla, guttering, halting, haphazard, haymish, herky-jerky, heteroclite, heteromorphic, hit-or-miss, homely, homespun, homey, horripilant, idiocratic, idiosyncratic, ill-matched, ill-sorted, illegal, illegitimate, illicit, immethodical, impermissible, impetuous, impulsive, inadequate, inchoate, incoherent, inconsistent, inconstant, indecisive, indiscriminate, inequal, inferior, infirm, informal, insufficient, intermittent, intermitting, interrupted, irresolute, irresponsible, jagged, jerky, jolty, justiciable, kinky, kooky, labyrinthine, lawless, linsey-woolsey, loose, lopsided, low-class, low-grade, low-quality, low-test, lumpy, lurching, maggoty, maquis, maquisard, mazy, mean, meaningless, mercurial, mismatched, misshapen, moody, motley, mutable, natural, nonconforming, nonconformist, nonconstitutional, noncontinuous, nonlegal, nonlicit, nonlinear, nonsequential, nonserial, nonstandard, nonsymmetric, nonsymmetrical, nonsystematic, nonuniform, nutty, occasional, odd, oddball, off-balance, off-key, offbeat, offhand, offhanded, one-sided, orderless, out of proportion, outlaw, outlawed, overbalanced, paltry, parenthetic, partisan, patchy, patriot, peculiar, pimply, pitted, plain, planless, pluralistic, pocky, poor, potholed, promiscuous, punishable, punk, purposeless, queer, quirky, ragged, rambling, random, rank, relaxed, resistance, resistance fighter, restless, ripply, rough, rough-grained, rough-hewn, roving, ruffled, rutted, rutty, scatterbrained, schlock, schmatte, scrappy, screwball, screwy, second, second-best, second-class, seedy, senseless, shabby, shagged, shaggy, shapeless, shifting, shifty, shuffling, simple, singular, skew, skewed, snatchy, sociable, spasmatic, spasmic, spasmodic, spastic, spineless, sporadic, spotty, sprung, staggering, straggling, straggly, strange, stray, straying, subnormal, suspended, systemless, tacky, textured, third, third-class, third-rate, tinny, tortuous, triable, twisted, unaccountable, unaffected, unallowed, unarranged, unassuming, unauthorized, unbalanced, unceremonious, uncertain, unclassified, uncommon, unconnected, unconsidered, unconstitutional, unconstrained, uncontrolled, unconventional, undependable, under-the-counter, under-the-table, underground, underground fighter, undirected, undisciplined, unequable, unequal, uneven, unfixed, ungraded, unique, unjoined, unkempt, unlawful, unlevel, unmethodical, unmetrical, unnatural, unofficial, unordered, unorganized, unorthodox, unpolished, unpredictable, unrefined, unregular, unreliable, unrestrained, unrhythmical, unsettled, unsmooth, unsorted, unstable, unstable as water, unstaid, unstatutory, unsteadfast, unsteady, unstudied, unsuccessive, unsymmetric, unsymmetrical, unsystematic, ununiform, unusual, unwarrantable, unwarranted, vacillating, vagrant, vague, variable, variegated, variform, various, varying, veering, vicissitudinary, vicissitudinous, volatile, wacky, wandering, wanton, warped, wavering, wavery, wavy, wayward, weird, whimsical, wimpled, wishy-washy, wobbling, wobbly, wrongful