Unsynchronised

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Not happening, occurring, or timed to happen at the same moment ; not coordinated so that parts move or operate together in proper alignment
2. Happening at different times rather than simultaneously ; lacking the coordination needed for parts to work or move together in harmony
3. Not synchronized to occur together ; operating without the proper coordination between components or movements

Etymology: "Unsynchronised" is a plain formation: the prefix "un-", meaning "not", attached to "synchronised". The prefix has a long pedigree in English, descending from Proto-Germanic "*un-" through Old English and Middle English, where it was used to negate adjectives and participles, so the English speaker combining it with a newer word is following a pattern that is well over a thousand years old. The base word "synchronised" is the more recent element. It is the British spelling of "synchronized", built on the Greek roots "syn-" ("together") and "chronos" ("time"), giving the sense of things happening at the same time. Because "synchronised" describes events, signals or movements that are coordinated in time, "unsynchronised" simply names the state of things that are not in step with one another, such as two clocks running at different rates or two recordings that drift apart.

Synonyms: asynchronous, uncoordinated, mistimed, out of sync

Antonyms: synchronised, coordinated, timed, aligned