Arrhythmic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Not having a consistent rhythm, resulting in irregularity in sounds or movements
2. Exhibiting a pattern of movement or sound that is inconsistent and lacks regular beats or intervals
3. Characterized by an absence of regular timing or beats in sound or movement

Etymology: "Arrhythmic" is formed from "a-", a Greek prefix meaning "without," and "rhythmic," which comes from Greek "rhythmos," meaning measured flow or regular movement. The Greek prefix and the Greek noun were joined to describe something lacking a regular beat, a sense that English adopted through the medical and musical vocabulary of the 19th century. The word's most common use outside medicine is musical: a drummer who loses the beat, or a performance that never settles into a pulse. The "rhythm" half of the word has a surprising history of its own. Ancient Greek "rhythmos" originally referred to the flow of any moving thing, such as a river or a dancer's steps, and only later came to mean the pattern of beats in music and verse. The word entered English in the 16th century, so the "rhythm" in "arrhythmic" carries the older sense of flowing movement that the Greeks had in mind.

Synonyms: irregular, unsteady

Antonyms: rhythmic, steady