as in sporadic
lacking in steadiness or regularity of occurrence
the novel captures the discontinuous nature of a soldier's life: long stretches of boredom interrupted by flashes of action
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of discontinuous
Ignoring this would mean disregarding the essential governance and coordination elements of industrial policy and characterizing this approach as being discontinuous with what’s already happening on the ground.
—
TIME, 16 Oct. 2023
In the current conflict, Hamas attacked Israel with much greater sophistication and scale than ever before—a massive, discontinuous change.
—Amy Zegart, Foreign Affairs, 11 Oct. 2023
Abstract: Tasks involving locally unstable or discontinuous dynamics (such as bifurcations and collisions) remain challenging in robotics, because small variations in the environment can have a significant impact on task outcomes.
—Evan Ackerman, IEEE Spectrum, 2 June 2023
The world is in the early stages of a vast and likely discontinuous energy transition that will match the Industrial Revolution in its hard-to-anticipate effects.
—Robert B. Zoellick, Foreign Affairs, 22 Feb. 2022
See all Example Sentences for discontinuous 
TIME, 16 Oct. 2023
In the current conflict, Hamas attacked Israel with much greater sophistication and scale than ever before—a massive, discontinuous change.
—Amy Zegart, Foreign Affairs, 11 Oct. 2023
Abstract: Tasks involving locally unstable or discontinuous dynamics (such as bifurcations and collisions) remain challenging in robotics, because small variations in the environment can have a significant impact on task outcomes.
—Evan Ackerman, IEEE Spectrum, 2 June 2023
The world is in the early stages of a vast and likely discontinuous energy transition that will match the Industrial Revolution in its hard-to-anticipate effects.
—Robert B. Zoellick, Foreign Affairs, 22 Feb. 2022
See all Example Sentences for discontinuous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for discontinuous
Adjective
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Bird flu viruses typically don’t infect humans, aside from sporadic cases in people who have close contact with infected animals.—
Berkeley Lovelace Jr.,
NBC News,
17 Jan. 2025
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Light, sporadic snow will continue in the Denver area through Sunday, forecasters said.—
Lauren Penington,
The Denver Post,
15 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Battery experts would expect the intermittent pulses of charge, which have a higher C-rate than continuous charging models, to age batteries faster than standard procedures do.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
29 Jan. 2025
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Preceded by intermittent spatter fountains earlier in the afternoon, sustained fountaining began from the north vent, feeding multiple lava streams.—
Jonathan Granoff,
Newsweek,
28 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Emma has been some fabulous version of blonde for quite some time now, interrupting her fair-haired streak with the occasional brunette detour.—
Marci Robin,
Allure,
3 Feb. 2025
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Fortunately, President Donald Trump recognizes that pairing a big stick with an occasional carrot can shape adversaries’ behavior more effectively than continual confrontation.—
Reid Smith,
Foreign Affairs,
3 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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But, an approach solely focused on sudden movements could lead to so many false triggers, users would likely find the option more annoying than beneficial—and that’s where machine learning, a segment of AI focused on pattern recognition, comes into play.—
Reece Rogers,
WIRED,
25 Jan. 2025
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The coastal city of Rancho Palos Verdes suffered sudden movement from a decades-old complex of slow-moving landslides last fall, twisting roads and putting multimillion-dollar homes on the brink of destruction.—
Karina Tsui,
CNN,
24 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near discontinuous
Cite this Entry
“Discontinuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/discontinuous. Accessed 8 Feb. 2025.
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