spottily
1
7.9
- adverb
- /ˈspɒtɪli/
:
de manera irregular
- Then they slowly climbed a staircase that had been carefully but spottily repaired.
- spottily enforced
Examples
-
We're in contact, spottily now that he's so far out.
Fiction book (1998) -
Roadside shrines, sacred effigies, hilltop crosses, and the like do occur spottily but never approach the saturation level one sees in Italy, Bali, or Thailand.
Academic text (2001) -
But the class of '68 was always represented spottily.
Blog text (18) -
Within this expansive range, they are spottily distributed in patches of suitable habitat.
Academic text (1990) -
Ashir-Bibi was built spottily, with lively dark eyes like black currants.
Fiction book (2002) -
"I met Snow for the first time during our inaugural editorial meeting at the office: the top two floors of a six-story, spottily heated building with a pool hall in the basement and what appeared to be fourteen-year-old security guards at the door, in central Beijing."
Blog text (17) -
The teachers spottily checked homework throughout the semester, leaving some students uncertain about their grades.
-
The weather has been spottily rainy this week, with sunny intervals between the showers.
-
Wildflowers grow spottily across the meadow, creating beautiful patches of color among the grass.
Synonyms
13
6.4
In a way that is not regular or easy to predict
8
3.5
In a way that makes some parts different from others
4
4.2
Happens at different times and not in a steady way
2
4.9
In an uneven, rough way with sudden stops and starts
In an uneven way so small parts are different
In an uneven, untidy way that spreads out
In a way that has small bits and feels uneven
Antonyms
How Continuous
95
2.3
386
1.0
15
6.0
1
7.9
13
6.5
438
2.0
539
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Spottily comes from spot ('small mark' or place) and the adjective spotty ('covered with spots'), and the ending -ly makes it describe how something is done. So, spottily means doing something in 'patches' or in an uneven, not continuous way.