different between immethodical vs erratic

English

Etymology

From im- +? methodical.

Adjective

immethodical (comparative more immethodical, superlative most immethodical)

1. (obsolete) Unmethodical.
   • 1659, John Milton, Considerations Touching the Likeliest Means to Remove Hirelings out of the Church, Pontefract: Charles Elcock, 1831, p. 20,^[1]

     Yet not so much through their own fault, as through the unskilful and immethodical teaching of their pastor, teaching here and there at random out of this and that text, as his ease or fancy, and oft-times as his stealth guides him.

   • 1728, Daniel Defoe, Augusta Triumphans: or, the Way to Make London the Most Flourishing City in the Universe, London: J. Roberts, p. 27,^[2]

     I must beg my reader’s indulgence, being the most immethodical writer imaginable. It is true I lay down a scheme, but fancy is so fertile I often start fresh hints, and cannot but pursue them; pardon therefore, kind reader, my digressive way of writing, and let the subject, not the style or method, engage thy attention.

   • 1817, Jane Austen, Persuasion, Chapter 21,^[3]

     The letter I am looking for was one written by Mr Elliot to him before our marriage, and happened to be saved; why, one can hardly imagine. But he was careless and immethodical, like other men, about those things; and when I came to examine his papers, I found it with others still more trivial, from different people scattered here and there, while many letters and memorandums of real importance had been destroyed.

   • 1844, Edgar Allan Poe, “A Tale of the Ragged Mountains” in The Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, New York: The Brampton Society, 1902, Volume 5, p. 77,^[4]

     In the quivering of a leaf—in the hue of a blade of grass—in the shape of a trefoil—in the humming of a bee—in the gleaming of a dew-drop—in the breathing of the wind—in the faint odors that came from the forest—there came a whole universe of suggestion—a gay and motley train of rhapsodical and immethodical thought.

Derived terms

• immethodically
• immethodicalness

Translations

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