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Haphazard Meaning Adjective English Word Derives Hall July

Haphazard describes things lacking plan, order, or direction, with the 'hap' element originating from a word meaning chance or fortune.

Haphazard describes something marked by a lack of plan, order, or direction. The 'hap' part comes from a word meaning chance or fortune.

Word haphazard
Date July 24, 2017
Type adjective
Syllables hap-HAZZ-erd
Etymology The hap in haphazard comes from an English word that means "happening," as well as "chance or fortune," and that derives from the Old Norse word happ, meaning "good luck." Perhaps it's no accident that hazard also has its own connotations of luck: while it now refers commonly to something that presents danger, at one time it referred to a dice game similar to craps. (The name ultimately derives from the Arabic al-zahr, meaning "the die.") Haphazard first entered English as a noun (again meaning "chance") in the 16th century, and soon afterward was being used as an adjective to describe things with no apparent logic or order.
Examples "… his intense work ethic has made such a feat of releasing back-to-back projects appear effortless, conscious and polished, as opposed to what could have been … a haphazard effort scrapping together 34 assorted tracks from his never-ending archive." — Billboard.com, 24 Feb. 2017

"Once the taxidermy is set up and artists escorted out, the doors to the exhibit hall are closed.… The hall is large and chilly, the scene is otherworldly, a haphazard zoo suspended in time, bald eagles perched beside African lions reclining beside wild turkeys standing beside trunkfish swimming alongside cape buffalo and snow leopards." — Christopher Borrelli, The Chicago Tribune, 28 May 2017
Definition : marked by lack of plan, order, or direction

Tags: wordoftheday::adjective

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