- [usually before noun] done, chosen, etc. without somebody deciding in advance what is going to happen, or without any regular pattern
- the random killing of innocent people
- a random sample/selection (= in which each thing has an equal chance of being chosen)
- The information is processed in a random order.
- (informal) I find and play a lot of random stuff—Bach, blues, bebop.
- He grabbed a random pair of jeans and an old red shirt.
- She dodged the random items that were on the concrete floor.
Extra Examples- Questionnaires were sent to a random selection of households.
- They interviewed a random sample of head teachers.
- Random checks are made on the goods leaving the factory.
- Random numbers are generated by the computer.
- The group to be studied was selected on a random basis.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- seem
- completely
- entirely
- purely
- …
- [only before noun] (informal) (especially of a person) not known or not identified
- Some random guy gave me a hundred bucks.
- You don’t want some random dude telling you how to live your life.
- (informal) a thing or person that is random is strange and does not make sense, often in a way that interests you or makes you laugh
- Mum, you are so random!
- The humour is great because it's just so random and unhinged from reality.
Word OriginMiddle English (in the sense ‘impetuous headlong rush’): from Old French randon ‘great speed’, from randir ‘gallop’.
Check pronunciation:
random