SCATTERSHOT Synonyms: 71 Similar and Opposite Words

scattershot

adjective

Definition of scattershot

as in haphazard

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of scattershot All this scattershot world-building and world-visiting allows for some colorfully diverting vignettes, in which production designer Alexandra Walker and costume designer Ann Maskrey get to show off their giddy, gaudy wares. — Guy Lodge, Variety, 22 Aug. 2026 Investors have been seeking details on Zuckerberg’s AI strategy, which has been scattershot and left Meta behind OpenAI, Anthropic and Google in the market for top models and services. — Jonathan Vanian, CNBC, 30 July 2026 As seemingly scattershot as the box-office yields for these films can be, don’t expect live-action remakes of classic animation to turn into a pumpkin anytime soon. — Chris Lee, Vulture, 14 July 2026 The two-bedroom duplex, Apartment 305-306, the aforementioned art studio, still has scattershot paint splatters on the floor and a library in the second room. — Matthew Sedacca, Curbed, 1 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for scattershot

Recent Examples of Synonyms for scattershot

Adjective

Violent crime, once almost unknown on the island, is rising sharply—another sign of the state’s haphazard retreat.

— Will Freeman, Foreign Affairs, 17 Sep. 2026
With no clear guidance, haphazard and improvised efforts by companies to clean the homes left 6 in 10 residences still unsafe.

— Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of haphazard

Adjective

Belting out random songs while delivering high-level physical comedy and acting takes skill.

— Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 15 Oct. 2026
Furthermore, the whiskers are in front, preventing the drone from detecting sideways obstacles like random jagged branches in a forest.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of random

Adjective

But then the story stalls, zeroes in on some incidental detail, and collapses into a mode of reflection that is circular and recursive.

— Meghan O’Gieblyn, The New York Review of Books, 17 Oct. 2026
That’s called an incidental finding, leading doctors to investigate well before symptoms develop and possibly early enough that the cancer remains small and hasn’t spread.

— Lauran Neergaard, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of incidental

Adjective

The task for the printmakers, led by Erik Hougen, Jeremy Ruiz, and Tom Smith, was to reproduce the jottings, corrections, and accidental smears on Safdie’s notecard as faithfully as possible, and also to scale it up in size.

— Bruce Handy, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
Good news for Boeing, but could this accidental monopoly be a potential disaster waiting to happen?

— Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of accidental

Adjective

The bear-resistant container was invented to arrest the inadvertent cultivation of problem bears.

— The New Yorker, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2026
Stewart recalls the whirlwind five-game series that included the star breaking teammate Sue Bird’s nose with an inadvertent elbow and game-altering clutch baskets by Taurasi.

— Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of inadvertent

Adjective

Only some regional operators have continued sporadic services, generally using smaller feeder vessels.

— Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2026
That said, devolving tropical storms can pack a punch with sporadic gusts and showers as the energy that was formerly bundled in the storm’s center releases outward.

— Sean Macaday, Sacbee.com, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of sporadic

Adjective

The film deals with an urban legend that a Nevada reservoir is a time portal, and the aimless group of teenage best friends who become obsessed with going back in history.

— Brent Lang, IndieWire, 24 Sep. 2026
Youth sports, once the redoubt of aimless childhood play, have become hopelessly commercialized.

— Nora Kenney Mittiga, Washington Post, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of aimless

Browse Nearby Words

scatters

scattershot

scatting

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“Scattershot.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scattershot. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of scattershot

adjective

Example Sentences

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Cite this Entry

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