randomness

noun

ran·​dom·​ness ˈran-dəm-nəs How to pronounce randomness (audio)
: the quality or state of being or seeming random (as in lacking or seeming to lack a definite plan, purpose, or pattern)
… the metaphor of a coin flip for randomness remains unquestioned. We use coin tosses to settle disputes and decide outcomes because we believe they are unbiased, with 50-50 odds. Yet recent research into coin flips has discovered that the laws of mechanics determine the outcome of coin tosses …David E. Adler
the randomness of life

Examples of randomness in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Someone who will talk to you about Marcel Proust, Albert Camus and theories of randomness. Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 22 May 2025 And then the second, which Simon Singh introduced to me, was this idea that all computer codes were based on their randomness. Lynette Rice, Deadline, 5 Mar. 2025 Underpinning both of the characters’ behavior is their fundamental unease at death’s randomness; that’s the freaky truth that Perkins knows is enough to keep viewers hooked, even as things go hilariously askew. David Sims, The Atlantic, 21 Feb. 2025 From July 2021 to December 2023, vehicle data loggers measured participants' driving behaviors such as hard braking, hard cornering, randomness of driving routes, speeding, and distances traveled. Elizabeth Yuko, Health, 9 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for randomness

Word History

First Known Use

1803, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of randomness was in 1803

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Cite this Entry

“Randomness.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/randomness. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.

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