random
/ˈɹændəm/noun, adjective, verb
random is spelled R-A-N-D-O-M: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 38 times per million words in written English, the 2,581st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, random means “A roving motion; course without definite direction; lack of rule or method; chance” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of random is randoms.
How many letters and syllables are in random?
| Letters | 6: R-A-N-D-O-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 38 times per million words; the 2,581st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is random?
Random appears 38 times per million words in written English, the 2,581st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce random?
- /ˈɹændəm/
Random has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-random.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with random
Sounds like: randem (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with random?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as random.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: rodman.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of random
- randoms plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- more random comparative
- most random superlative
- randoming participle, present
- randomed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does random mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A roving motion; course without definite direction; lack of rule or method; chance.
- 2
obsoleteSpeed, full speed; impetuosity, force.
- 3
obsoleteThe full range of a bullet or other projectile; hence, the angle at which a weapon is tilted to allow the greatest range.
- 4
colloquialAn undefined, unknown or unimportant person; a person of no consequence.
The party was boring. It was full of randoms.
- 5
The direction of a rake-vein.
- 6
A frame for composing type.
adjective
- 1
Occurring for no particular reason; haphazard, unpredictable.
Our city is plagued by random acts of violence.
- 2
Involving an outcome which is impossible to predict, but which may be represented by a probability distribution; in the ideal case, involving outcomes which are equally likely.
Near-synonyms: aleatory, stochastic
- 3
Pseudorandom; mimicking the result of random selection.
The rand function generates a random number from a seed.
- 4
informalSelected for no particular reason; arbitrary; unspecified.
A random American off the street couldn't tell the difference.
- 5
informalBeing (part of) a varied, unrelated, and apparently arbitrary collection of things; diverse, heterogeneous.
My notebook has turned into a random collection of thoughts.
- 6
informalApropos of nothing; lacking context, relevance, or any connection to the previous situation; unexpected.
This random guy just came up to me to say that he was a fan of my work.
- 7
informalOf a person: characterized by or often saying random things; habitually using non sequiturs.
You're so random! I never know what you're going to do next.
- 8
UKslangBeing out of the ordinary; unusual or unexpected; odd, strange, bizarre.
That's a rather random fact!
verb
- 1
To wander; to stray; to meander.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Random in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | rondón , fulano, cualquiera , random, al azar |
| French | quidam , aléatoire, au hasard , stochastique , pseudo-aléatoire , moyen |
| German | Rando , zufällig , Durchschnitts- , random |
| Portuguese | joão-ninguém, fulano, sicrano, beltrano , aleatório , randômico |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does random come from?
From earlier randon, from Middle English randoun, raundon, from Old French randon, from randir (“to run, gallop”) (whence French randonnée (“long walk, hike”)), from Frankish *randiju (“a run, race”) or Old Norse rend (“a run, race”), both from Proto-Germanic *randijō, from *rinnaną (“run”, verb), from Proto-Indo-European *(H)r̥-nw- (“to flow, move, run”). Cognate with Middle Low German uprinden (“to jump up”), Danish rende (“to run”). See run.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).