proceeding, made, or occurring without definite aim, reason, or pattern: the random selection of numbers.
Statistics. of or characterizing a process of selection in which each item of a set has an equal probability of being chosen.
Building Trades.
(of building materials) lacking uniformity of dimensions: random shingles.
(of ashlar) laid without continuous courses.
constructed or applied without regularity: random bond.
Slang.
unknown, unidentified, or suspiciously out of place: A couple of random guys showed up at the party.
odd or unpredictable, often in an amusing way: my totally random life.
noun
something that is random, or a random state or condition: different statistical methods used to estimate randoms.
Slang.
a person or thing that is unknown, unidentified, or suspiciously out of place.
a person or thing that is odd or unpredictable.
Chiefly British. bank3 (def. 7b).
adverb
Building Trades. without uniformity: random-sized slates.
Idioms for random
at random, without definite aim, purpose, method, or adherence to a prior arrangement; in a haphazard way: Contestants were chosen at random from the studio audience.
Origin of random
1275–1325; Middle English raundon, random<Old French randon, derivative of randir to gallop <Germanic
“There are not that many bad… guys whose goal in life is to go and randomly mess with patients in hospitals,” Hoyme said.
How Your Pacemaker Will Get Hacked|Kaiser Health News|November 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And randomly selected panels are well suited to political questions that we might otherwise addresses through a big referendum.
Is It Time to Take a Chance on Random Representatives?|Michael Schulson|November 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We could be randomly detained or harassed in order to make an example of us.
Hong Kong Demonstrators Reject Racism|Ben Leung|October 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I did that, and another play afterwards, then randomly got an agent.
Robert Pattinson’s Life After ‘Twilight’|Andrew Romano|June 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
So, they randomly select a poor villager and strap a bucket of rats against his chest.
Game of Thrones’ 8 Most Gruesome Deaths: From The Mountain’s Exploding Head Kill to Rat Torture|Marlow Stern|June 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This, again, is Nature's way, randomly and tirelessly seeking her ends.
Ways of Nature|John Burroughs
"Bang," he said randomly, pointing his finger at his head, and then jerked his hand away as if it had burned him.
Games|Katherine MacLean
British Dictionary definitions for random
random
/ (ˈrændəm) /
adjective
lacking any definite plan or prearranged order; haphazarda random selection
statistics
having a value which cannot be determined but only described probabilisticallya random variable
chosen without regard to any characteristics of the individual members of the population so that each has an equal chance of being selectedrandom sampling
informal(of a person) unknownsome random guy waiting for a bus
noun
at randomin a purposeless fashion; not following any prearranged order
Derived forms of random
randomly, adverbrandomness, noun
Word Origin for random
C14: from Old French randon, from randir to gallop, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German rinnan to run