• Irregular

    Pronunciation

    • US IPA: /ɪˈrɛɡjÉ™lÉš/

    Origin

    From Old French irreguler, from Medieval Latin irregularis, from in- + regularis.

    Full definition of irregular

    Adjective

    irregular

    1. Nonstandard; not conforming to rules or expectations.
    2. Of a surface, rough.
    3. Without symmetry, regularity, or uniformity.
      • 1944, Miles Burton, The Three Corpse Trick Chapter 5, The hovel stood in the centre of what had once been a vegetable garden, but was now a patch of rank weeds. Surrounding this, almost like a zareba, was an irregular ring of gorse and brambles, an unclaimed vestige of the original common.
      • 2013-01-01, Paul Bartel, Ashli Moore, Avian Migration: The Ultimate Red-Eye Flight, Many of these classic methods are still used, with some modern improvements. For example, with the aid of special microphones and automated sound detection software, ornithologists recently reported that pine siskins (Spinus pinus) undergo an irregular, nomadic type of nocturnal migration.
      • 2013-07-19, Ian Sample, Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains, Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits.  ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.
    4. (geometry, of a polygon) Not regular; having sides that are not equal or angles that are not equal.
    5. (geometry, of a polyhedron) Whose faces are not all regular polygons (or are not equally inclined to each other).

    Antonyms

    Noun

    irregular

    (plural irregulars)
    1. A soldier who is not a member of an official military force and, often, does not follow regular army tactics.
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