| / English Dictionary |
IRREGULARITY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Behavior that breaches the rule or etiquette or custom or morality
Synonyms:
abnormality; irregularity
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("irregularity" is a kind of...):
misbehavior; misbehaviour; misdeed (improper or wicked or immoral behavior)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "irregularity"):
deviance; deviation (deviate behavior)
Derivation:
irregular (deviating from normal expectations; somewhat odd, strange, or abnormal)
irregular (contrary to rule or accepted order or general practice)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Not characterized by a fixed principle or rate; at irregular intervals
Synonyms:
irregularity; unregularity
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("irregularity" is a kind of...):
quality (an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "irregularity"):
inhomogeneity (the quality of being inhomogeneous)
fitfulness; jerkiness (the quality of being spasmodic and irregular)
intermittence; intermittency (the quality of being intermittent; subject to interruption or periodic stopping)
fluctuation; wavering (the quality of being unsteady and subject to changes)
haphazardness; noise; randomness; stochasticity (the quality of lacking any predictable order or plan)
unevenness; variability (the quality of being uneven and lacking uniformity)
unsteadiness (the quality of being unsteady--varying and unpredictable)
Antonym:
regularity (the quality of being characterized by a fixed principle or rate)
Derivation:
irregular (independent in behavior or thought)
irregular (contrary to rule or accepted order or general practice)
Sense 3
Meaning:
An irregular asymmetry in shape; an irregular spatial pattern
Synonyms:
geometrical irregularity; irregularity
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("irregularity" is a kind of...):
asymmetry; dissymmetry; imbalance ((mathematics) a lack of symmetry)
Derivation:
irregular ((of a surface or shape); not level or flat or symmetrical)
irregular ((of solids) not having clear dimensions that can be measured; volume must be determined with the principle of liquid displacement)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Irregular and infrequent or difficult evacuation of the bowels; can be a symptom of intestinal obstruction or diverticulitis
Synonyms:
constipation; irregularity
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("irregularity" is a kind of...):
symptom ((medicine) any sensation or change in bodily function that is experienced by a patient and is associated with a particular disease)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "irregularity"):
dyschezia (difficulty in defecating (usually as a consequence of long continued voluntary suppression of the urge to defecate))
fecal impaction (accumulation of hardened feces in the rectum or lower colon which the person cannot move)
obstipation (severe constipation resulting from an obstruction in the intestines)
Derivation:
irregular (not occurring at a regular rate or fixed intervals)
Context examples:
An irregularity in the number or structure of chromosomes, usually in the form of a gain (duplication), loss (deletion), exchange (translocation), or alteration in sequence (inversion) of genetic material.
(Cytogenetic Abnormality, NCI Thesaurus)
"And what a sweet-tempered forehead he has!" cried Louisa,—"so smooth—none of those frowning irregularities I dislike so much; and such a placid eye and smile!"
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Regular chocolate consumption may be linked to a lower risk of developing the heart rhythm irregularity atrial fibrillation, also known as heart flutter.
(Eat Chocolate for Steady Heartbea, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
Not only was her first-floor flat invaded at all hours by throngs of singular and often undesirable characters but her remarkable lodger showed an eccentricity and irregularity in his life which must have sorely tried her patience.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Many a man would have even blazoned such irregularities as I was guilty of; but from the high views that I had set before me, I regarded and hid them with an almost morbid sense of shame.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
There is loss of nuclear polarity, dystrophic goblet cells (goblet cells with nuclei oriented towards the lumen and mucinous cytoplasm oriented toward the basement membrane), mitoses which may occasionally be abnormal, nuclear irregularities and prominent (macro) nucleoli.
(Mouse Pancreatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia-3, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)
What with your eternal tobacco, Watson, and your irregularity at meals, I expect that you will get notice to quit, and that I shall share your downfall—not, however, before we have solved the problem of the nervous tutor, the careless servant, and the three enterprising students.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Their other aunt also visited them frequently, and always, as she said, with the design of cheering and heartening them up—though, as she never came without reporting some fresh instance of Wickham's extravagance or irregularity, she seldom went away without leaving them more dispirited than she found them.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
He might well be a little shocked at the irregularity of my lineaments, his own being so harmonious.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Listen, then, Jane Eyre, to your sentence: to-morrow, place the glass before you, and draw in chalk your own picture, faithfully, without softening one defect; omit no harsh line, smooth away no displeasing irregularity; write under it, 'Portrait of a Governess, disconnected, poor, and plain.'
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
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