different between erratic vs uncertain

English

Alternative forms

• erratick, erraticke, erratique (all obsolete)

Etymology

From Latin erraticus; compare Old French erratique.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???æt?k/
• Rhymes: -æt?k

Adjective

erratic (comparative more erratic, superlative most erratic)

1. unsteady, random; prone to unexpected changes; not consistent

   Henry has been getting erratic scores on his tests: 40% last week, but 98% this week.

2. Deviating from normal opinions or actions; eccentric; odd.

   erratic conduct

Antonyms

• consistent

Derived terms

• erratical
• erratically
• erraticness

Translations

Noun

erratic (plural erratics)

1. (geology) A rock moved from one location to another, usually by a glacier.
   • 2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, BCA 2003, p. 372:

     The term for a displaced boulder is an erratic, but in the nineteenth century the expression seemed to apply more often to the theories than to the rocks.

2. Anything that has erratic characteristics.

Synonyms

• (glaciers): dropstone

Translations

Anagrams

• Cartier, cartier, cirrate, rice rat

English

Etymology

un- +? certain

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?s??t?n/
• Rhymes: -??(r)t?n

Adjective

uncertain (comparative more uncertain, superlative most uncertain)

1. Not certain; unsure.
   • 1663, John Tillotson, The Wisdom of being Religious

     Man, without the protection of a superior Being, […] is […] uncertain of everything that he hopes for.

2. Not known for certain; questionable.

3. Not yet determined; undecided.
4. Variable and subject to change.
5. Fitful or unsteady.

   • Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.

6. Unpredictable or capricious.

Antonyms

• certain

Related terms

• uncertainly, uncertainty

Translations

Noun

uncertain pl (plural only)

1. (with "the") Something uncertain.

Anagrams

• N Centauri, centaurin, encurtain, runcinate