irregularadj.n.
/ɪˈrɛɡjʊlə/ A. adj. Not regular.
I. General senses.
1.
a. Of things: Not in conformity with rule or principle; contrary to rule; disorderly in action or conduct; not in accordance with what is usual or normal; anomalous, abnormal.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > irregularity > [adjective]
uneven1390
irregular1483
scambling1592
prevaricant1644
eccentrica1649
vagous1660
erratical1698
scrambling1778
unregular1884
1483 Cath. Angl. 198/2 Irregulere, irregularis.
1623 H. Cockeram Eng. Dict. Irregular, contrary to rule.
1655 Campion's Art of composing Musick in Parts in J. Playford Introd. Skill Musick ii. 21 If the Base and Treble doe rise together in thirds, then the first Note of the Treble is regular with the other part, but the second of it is irregular.
1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall II. xix. 148 He..repelled with skill and firmness the efforts of their irregular valour.
1800 Med. Jrnl. 5 27 What proportion the irregular cases may bear to the regular is not yet known.
1850 T. S. Baynes New Anal. Logical Forms 12 Unnatural, indirect, or irregular predication [with the old logicians] was..that..in which the species was predicated of the genus, the subject of its attribute, and, in general, the extensive part of its whole.
1894 Law Times Rep. 71 9/2 The order is altogether irregular, and should be discharged.
b. Not in accordance with, or not subjected to, moral law or principle; unregulated; morally disorderly. ? Obsolete (or merged in general sense).
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > [adjective] > immoral or unethical > not conformed to moral order
disordeine1340
disordinatec1386
disordaineda1425
violated1541
disordered1548
irregular1608
deordinate1624
violate1655
1608 D. Tuvill Ess. Politicke, & Morall f. 44 Subject to the commaunde of such irregular and confused Passions.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary ii. 63 He hoped shortly to give law to their irregular humours.
1748 J. Hervey Contempl. Night in Medit. & Contempl. (ed. 2) II. 72 May every sordid Desire wear away, and every irregular Appetite be gradually lost.
1794 S. Williams Nat. & Civil Hist. Vermont 159 His appetite the more inflamed by irregular enjoyment.
1804 W. Tennant Indian Recreat. (ed. 2) I. 97 With irreligious principles, irregular conduct is intimately connected.
2. Of persons: Not conforming or obedient to rule, law, or moral principle; lawless, disorderly.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > unruliness > [adjective]
wildc1000
unthewedc1175
wanton?a1300
rabbisha1387
irregular1395
inordinate1398
unruly1400
misgoverned?a1425
misruled?a1425
misruly?a1425
unruleful1439
seditious1447
rulelessc1460
turbulous1527
undaunted1533
turbulent1538
unordinate1561
rowsey1565
misorderlya1568
disruly1570
rabbling1575
disorderous1579
irregulate1579
disorderly1585
break-dance1587
willyart?1590
unguided1600
inorderly1606
anarchial1609
irregulousa1616
unmasterlya1623
uncomposed1631
obstreperous1641
disriegled1657
ranting1658
rantipole1660
reuling1691
shandy1691
rumblegarie1722
randy1723
obstropolous1727
wanruly1773
polrumptious1787
ree-raw1800
rambunctious1830
roid1874
unordered1929
rogue1948
the world > action or operation > behaviour > a standard of conduct > [adjective] > not conforming to standard behaviour
irregular1395
unformalc1449
informalc1475
disordered1561
monstrous1568
odd1577
irregulate1579
exorbitant1613
free-spirited1613
exorbitating1632
inconformable1633
extravagant1650
inconform1659
eccentric1685
unconformable1702
outrageous1778
unconventional1840
erratic1841
kinky1844
Bohemian1846
radical1869
Bohemic1874
nonconforming1899
hard case1904
jazz1917
offbeat1922
deviant1935
deviate1945
oddball1945
left field1951
way out1955
boho1958
non-conformant1960
sideways1969
1395 J. Purvey Remonstr. (1851) 92 Thei [monks] moun not lawfulli werre..for thanne thei shulden been irreguler bi Goddis lawe and mannis.
1568 (a1508) W. Kennedy Flyting (Bannatyne) in Poems W. Dunbar (1998) I. 201 Ignorant elf, aip, owll irregular.
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 i. i. 40 The irregular, and wild Glendower. View more context for this quotation
1606 W. Warner Continuance Albions Eng. xiv. lxxxv. 352 So much the more, though lesse secure, men liue irreguler.
1649 Humble Petition of City of Oxon 7 In case the City punisheth any irregular Freeman for misdemeanor.
1752 E. Young Brothers i. i O, that's the jealous elder brother; Irregular in manners, as in form.
3. Not of regular or symmetrical form; unevenly shaped or placed; disorderly in form or arrangement.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > misshapenness > [adjective] > irregular in shape
uneven1398
bastard1418
raggedc1450
odd1508
unruled1551
irregular1584
inordinate1667
rambling1676
odd-shaped1704
bizarre1824
scrawled1895
raggedy1896
scrawly1901
free-form1942
1584 R. Scot Discouerie Witchcraft xiii. xix. 316 Diuerse sorts of glasses;..the round, the cornerd,..the regular, the irregular, the coloured and cleare glasses.
1607 T. Dekker Knights Conjuring sig. C1 The most perfect Circles of it, drawne so irregualler awrye.
1665 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 1 105 If curve, whether regular or irregular.
1718 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. 10 Apr. (1965) I. 398 It is..a Palace of prodigious extent, but very irregular.
1803 Gazetteer Scotl. at Bolton A parish of a very irregular figure.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby xiv. 120 Two irregular rows of tall meagre houses.
1843 G. P. R. James Forest Days I. i. 6 The surface was irregular.
4. In reference to time or motion: Unequal or uneven in continuance, occurrence, or succession; occurring at variously unequal rates or intervals. Hence of an agent: Doing something at irregular intervals or times; as an irregular attendant, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > frequency > infrequency > [adjective] > intermittent or irregular
chopping1483
wavering1488
interpolate1547
suspensive1575
off and on1583
remitting1583
intermissive1586
fluttering1590
aguisha1602
intermittent1603
irregular1608
broken1629
intermitting1643
serratile1707
serrine1707
scattering1709
serratic1753
now-and-then1762
remittent1791
fitful1810
non-periodic1836
spasmodic1837
startful1837
interlusory1853
heterochronic1854
heterochronous1854
between-whiles1859
snatchy1861
sporadic1861
spasmodical1864
catchy1869
pauseful1877
aperiodic1879
scratchy1881
nervy1884
spurty1894
off-again on-again1923
on-again off-again1946
on-off1949
1608 D. Tuvill Ess. Politicke, & Morall f. 125 Every thing is presently brought to a most irregular, and confused motion.
1609 Chapman Descr. Fever in E. Farr Sel. Poetry Reign James I (1848) 252 Languor-chill trembling, fits irregulare.
1694 F. Bragge Pract. Disc. Parables ix. 311 When a child would catch a grass~hopper, its motions are so irregular, that he finds it very difficult at all to come near it.
1791 A. Radcliffe Romance of Forest I. i. 27 Her breathing was short and irregular.
1867 M. E. Herbert Cradle Lands iii. 93 The most curious thing about this fountain is the irregular flow of the water.
1869 J. Phillips Vesuvius v. 145 At irregular intervals a different kind of cloud rises.
II. Technical senses.
5. Ecclesiastical (chiefly Roman Catholic Church). Not in conformity with the rule of the Church or of some ecclesiastical order; disqualified for ordination, or for exercise of clerical functions. (The earliest sense in English, representing ecclesiastical Latin irregularis, Thomas Aquinas.)
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > sacrilege > clerical misbehaviour > [adjective]
irregularc1380
scandalous1631
c1380 J. Wyclif Wks. (1880) 242 Þouȝ he be..a fals suerere, a man-quellere & inreguler.
c1386 G. Chaucer Parson's Tale ⁋708 Yet is it to hym a deedly synne, and if he be ordred, he is irreguleer [v.rr. -ler(e].
?1530 J. Rastell Pastyme of People sig. Dviv That who so euer were a morderar shuld be irriguler & vnable to receyue holy orders.
1655 E. Nicholas Nicholas Papers (1892) II. 164 The Cardinall of Rets..has gotten a declaration from the Pope, to make all those Priests irregular who have bene lately ordained here in his diocese without his consent.
1885 W. E. Addis & T. Arnold Catholic Dict. (ed. 3) 885 Lunatics, etc. are irregular, so are persons without sufficient knowledge.
6. Grammar. Of a word or part of speech: Inflected not according to the normal or usual method. Also said of an inflection so formed.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > morphology > inflection > [adjective] > with usual mode of inflection > not
defectivec1450
anormal1530
irregular1611
heteroclitous1648
heteroclite1656
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Briefe Direct. 5/1 The Anomala or irregular Verbes of the first Coniugation.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Briefe Direct. 5/1 Martin Caucius..doth further obserue, that the word doint is an irregular third person from the Verbe Donner.
1669 J. Milton Accedence 24 (heading) Verbs of the third Conjugation irregular in some Tenses of the Active Voice.
1762 R. Lowth Short Introd. Eng. Gram. (1838) 77 The Irregular Verbs in English are all Monosyllables, unless compounded.
1874 Grece tr. Mätzner's Eng. Gram. I. 226 A few irregular plural forms are remnants of the strong declension of the Anglosaxon.
1899 W. R. Morfill Gram. Bohemian Lang. 19 The following comparatives are altogether irregular.
7. Mathematics (see quots.).
ΚΠ
1700 Moxon's Math. made Easie (ed. 3) 142 Those [figures are] called Irregular, which have not the Equality of Sides and Angles, as are Prisms and Trapezia's.
1734 J. Ward Introd. Math. (ed. 6) iii. i. §4 290 An Irregular Polygon is that figure which hath many unequal Sides standing at unequal Angles.
8. Botany and Zoology.
a. Varying from the form usual in the genus or other group; abnormal.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > physical aspects or shapes > shape > [adjective] > irregular or abnormal
irregular1785
1785 T. Martyn tr. J.-J. Rousseau Lett. Elements Bot. iii. 36 One general division of flowers is into regular and irregular.
b. Not having a definite, symmetrical, or uniform shape or arrangement; spec. of a flower, Having the members of the same cycle (esp. the petals) unlike in form or size.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > [adjective] > having specific arrangement or number of member parts
regular1760
decandrous1808
irregular1826
tetramerous1835
pentamerous1848
symmetrical1849
hexamerous1857
isomerous1857
octamerous1857
anisomerous1861
octomeral1871
hemicyclic1875
zygomorphic1875
zygomorphous1879
tetracyclic1880
heteromerous1882
heterocyclic1895
oligomerous1897
pleiomerous1898
decasepalous-
1826 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. IV. 322 Antennæ..Figure and Size..Irregular.
1828 J. Stark Elements Nat. Hist. II. 87 Shell irregular, always inequivalve.
1857 A. Henfrey Elem. Bot. ii. §435 Order XXXIX. Polygalaceæ..Herbs or shrubs with irregular hypogynous flowers.
9. Military. Of troops: Not belonging to the regular or established army organization; not in regular service; not forming an organized military body.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > branch of army > [adjective] > irregular
tumultuary1590
irregular1856
non-regular1919
1856 J. W. Kaye Life Sir J. Malcolm I. xiii. 362 The great work of reducing the irregular troops was to be accomplished.
1859 Sir G. Wetherall in Daily News (1869) 12 June In a country like England..there is no sort of irregular troops so formidable as mounted riflemen.
1867 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest I. v. 340 The Danes..put the irregular English levies to flight.
1896 T. F. Tout Edward I (ed. 2) iv. 74 His early defeats by the light-armed and nimble Welsh footmen taught him the value of a dexterous and daring irregular infantry.
10. Astronomy.
a. Of a galaxy: having an irregular shape and lacking any axis of symmetry or central nucleus. Also elliptical as n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > constellation > galaxy > [adjective]
irregular1811
galactic1834
supergiant1930
peculiar1936
1811 W. Herschel in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 101 296 By calling the figure of a nebula irregular, it must be understood that I saw no particular dimension of it sufficiently marked to deserve the name of length.
1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 821/1 Among the varieties of form may be noted spiral, elliptic, and ring nebulæ, double nebulæ, and irregular nebulæ.
1928 J. H. Jeans Astron. & Cosmogony i. 28 The irregular nebulae shew the bright line spectrum which is characteristic of a transparent gas.
1936 E. Hubble Realm of Nebulæ ii. 47 About half of the irregulars form a homogeneous group, in which the Magellanic Clouds are typical examples.
1959 Listener 31 Dec. 1152/1 There are a few galaxies that do not fit conveniently into this classification of spirals, ellipticals, and irregulars.
1965 J. Muirden Handbk. Astron. xxiv. 239 Irregular galaxies seem to be the adolescents; spirals are in the prime of life, while elliptical galaxies are bankrupt.
b. Of a variable star: fluctuating in brightness in a way that lacks any definite rhythm.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > star > kind of star > by light > [adjective] > variable
variable1788
irregular1903
period–luminosity1918
1903 A. M. Clerke Probl. Astrophysics xxiii. 363 (heading) Peculiar and irregular variables.
1955 F. Hoyle Frontiers Astron. xi. 190 Certain irregular variables are among the brightest of all stars.
1970 D. H. Menzel et al. Survey Universe xxvi. 551 Truly irregular variables, like R Coronae Borealis, suffer brightness changes in abrupt and unpredictable fashion.
B. n.
1. Grammar. A word having irregular inflection; an irregular noun, verb, etc. (see A. 6). rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > morphology > inflection > [noun] > inflectional irregularity > irregular or defective form
defective1530
heteroclite1580
irregular1611
deficient1647
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Briefe Direct. 3/1 Words ending in l, change l into ux;..Except these irregulars,..œil, yeux [etc.].
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Briefe Direct. 5/1 The irregulars of the second Coniugation.
2.
a. One not belonging to the regular body; an agent of any kind who does something irregularly; one not of the ‘regular’ clergy; an irregular practitioner, attendant, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > frequency > infrequency > [noun] > one who is occasionally or irregularly
irregular1619
society > faith > worship > sacrilege > clerical misbehaviour > [noun] > one who is characterized by
irregular1619
1619 W. Sclater Expos. 2 Thess. (1630) 545 The bare opinion of some Ministers, to whom our irregulars haue inclosed sincerity.
1620 Bp. J. Hall Honor Married Clergie iii. xi. 314 The secular Prebendaries of Waltham, were first turned out, to giue way to their Irregulars.
1809 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 21 99 The multitude of practitioners scattered over this country, are comprehended in two classes:—regulars and irregulars.
1893 Chicago Advance 13 Apr. To ask them [regular hearers] to abide at home that the irregulars may find sittings.
b. Military. A soldier not of the regular army; almost always in plural = irregular troops (see A. 9).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > branch of army > [noun] > irregulars
tumultuary1654
watch1739
irregular1747
campoo1803
pioneer corps1845
harka1903
Legion of Frontiersmen1905
non-regular1909
1747 Gentleman's Mag. July 315/1 Before six their irregulars..were skirmishing with our advanced Hussars and Lycanians.
1756 G. Washington Let. in Writings (1889) I. 374 With this small company of irregulars..we set out.
1867 S. W. Baker Nile Tributaries (1872) xi. 189 Large bodies of Egyptian irregulars threatened Mek Nimmur's country.
Compounds
irregular-shaped adj.
ΚΠ
1762 R. Guy Pract. Observ. Cancers 159 The Tumour was..a perfect, irregular-shaped Schirrus.
1877 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 424 The separation of irregular-shaped grains.
Draft additions 1993
Usually in plural. An imperfect piece of merchandise (esp. clothing or cloth) sold at a reduced price. Cf. second adj. 5. Originally and chiefly U.S.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > merchandise > [noun] > low quality goods
brayed ware1603
breathed ware1640
mattress1685
third1768
wastera1800
imperfects1862
fifths1881
cheaps1930
irregular1940
borax1942
tat1951
braided wares-
1936 Jrnl. Home Econ. 28 152/2 All textile merchandise is inspected in the mill and classed as first, second, third, etc., according to its degree of perfection... The meaning of irregular varies with the mill.]
1940 Washington Post 1 Jan. 24/5 (advt.) Irregulars... Porcelain-top tables... Only slightly imperfect.
1958 News & Observer (Raleigh, N. Carolina) 7 July 59/4 (advt.) Irish linen... Crease resistant, slight irregulars.
1973 News & Courier (Charleston, S. Carolina) 4 Nov. 11- a/1 A clothing factory gave us a bunch of irregulars and we're busy sewing them up and fixing them so we can give them to people who need them.
1985 Fortune 27 May 48/2 Dollar General has 1,333 stores, also mostly in the Southeast. Half its clothing is either closeouts or irregulars.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.n.c1380