Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Irregular
Ir-reg′u-lar
,Adj.
[Pref.
ir-
not + regular
: cf. F. irrégulier
.] Not regular; not conforming to a law, method, or usage recognized as the general rule; not according to common form; not conformable to nature, to the rules of moral rectitude, or to established principles; not normal; unnatural; immethodical; unsymmetrical; erratic; no straight; not uniform;
as, an
irregular
line; an irregular
figure; an irregular
verse; an irregular
physician; an irregular
proceeding; irregular
motion; irregular
conduct, etc. Cf. Regular
.Mazes intricate,
Eccentric, intervolved, yet regular
Then most when most
Eccentric, intervolved, yet regular
Then most when most
irregular
they seem. Milton.
Leading the men of Herefordshire to fight
Against the
Against the
irregular
and wild Glendower. Shakespeare
Syn. – Immethodical; unsystematic; abnormal; unnatural; anomalous; erratic; devious; crooked; eccentric; unsettled; uneven; variable; changeable; mutable; desultory; disorderly; wild; immoderate; intemperate; inordinate; vicious.
Ir-reg′u-lar
,Noun.
One who is not regular; especially, a soldier not in regular service.
Webster 1828 Edition
Irregular
IRREG'ULAR
,Adj.
1.
Not regular; not according to common form or rules; as an irregular building or fortification.2.
Not according to established principles or customs; deviating from usage; as the irregular proceedings of a legislative body.3.
Not conformable to nature or the usual operation of natural laws; as an irregular action of the heart and arteries.4.
Not according to the rules of art; immethodical; as irregular verse; an irregular discourse.5.
Not in conformity to laws,human or divine; deviating from the rules of moral rectitude; vicious; as irregular conduct or propensities.6.
Not straight; as an irregular line or course.7.
Not uniform; as irregular motion.8.
In grammar, an irregular noun or verb is one which deviates from the common rules in its inflections.IRREG'ULAR
,Noun.
Definition 2024
irregular
irregular
See also: irregulär
English
Adjective
irregular (comparative more irregular, superlative most irregular)
- Nonstandard; not conforming to rules or expectations.
- 1967, Sleigh, Barbara, Jessamy, 1993 edition, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, ISBN 0 340 19547 9, page 33:
- ‘ “It would be most irregular Grandpa!” says Miss Cecily frowning and tapping her foot. “Well, we’re a pretty irregular family so that’s neither here nor there,” says the old man, impish like. [...] ’
-
- Of a surface, rough.
- Without symmetry, regularity, or uniformity.
- 1944, Miles Burton, chapter 5, in The Three Corpse Trick:
- 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 January 1, Paul Bartel, Ashli Moore, “Avian Migration: The Ultimate Red-Eye Flight”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 1, page 47–48:
- 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 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34:
- 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.
-
- (geometry, of a polygon) Not regular; having sides that are not equal or angles that are not equal.
- (geometry, of a polyhedron) Whose faces are not all regular polygons (or are not equally inclined to each other).
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
non-standard
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in grammar, applied to verbs
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lacking uniformity
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Noun
irregular (plural irregulars)
- A soldier who is not a member of an official military force and, often, does not follow regular army tactics.
- One who does not regularly attend a venue.
- 2015, Brian Cook, Hands Across The Sea (page 190)
- There's one neighborhood tavern where the regulars and irregulars go after a hard day to unlax and rewind, throw back a few, and just hang out - you know the one.
- 2015, Brian Cook, Hands Across The Sea (page 190)
Translations
soldier
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Portuguese
Adjective
irregular m, f (plural irregulares, comparable)
- irregular; nonstandard
- (grammar) irregular (not following an inflectional paradigm)