How to Use sporadically in a Sentence

sporadically

adverb
  • Place the toads sporadically up your front steps next to pumpkins and broomsticks to achieve this fun look.
    — Megan Boettcher, Better Homes & Gardens, 3 Oct. 2023
  • Clashes broke out again that night and sporadically in the days that followed.
    — Erin Blakemore, National Geographic, 26 June 2020
  • Grown as a shrub or small tree, the tea olive blooms in spring, summer, and sporadically throughout the year.
    — Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 1 May 2026
  • Over the years, the garden has been sporadically opened to the public.
    — Annie Goldsmith, Town & Country, 6 Aug. 2020
  • Our house looks out onto the yard where our neighbors let the dogs out sporadically throughout the day.
    — Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2023
  • Over the next nine months of repairs, time started and stopped sporadically.
    — Alex Robert Ross, Pitchfork, 5 Apr. 2026
  • Those are new peaks for the track, which has been sporadically present on both lists in the past, though it’s never appeared this high.
    — Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
  • Some airports publish wait times sporadically, and some don’t at all.
    — Michele Luhn, CNBC, 27 Mar. 2026
  • For years, the list of foods in the thrifty plan was updated only sporadically.
    — Matthew Yglesias, The Mercury News, 23 Jan. 2025
  • Those soft stripes are seen woven sporadically throughout the fluffy look, like in her tendrils and along the crown.
    — Marci Robin, Allure, 8 Apr. 2026
  • Since there are far more right-handed pitchers than left, his at-bats are coming sporadically.
    — Nick Piecoro, The Arizona Republic, 10 May 2023
  • But the magic that used to last 90 minutes comes more sporadically now.
    — Joshua Robinson, WSJ, 11 Mar. 2021
  • Flowers first appear in spring and then sporadically through summer and fall.
    — Steve Bender, Southern Living, 23 June 2026
  • Flowers first appear in spring and then sporadically through summer and fall.
    — Steve Bender, Southern Living, 10 May 2024
  • The math students ducked onto the floor and sporadically crawled around, looking for a safe corner to hide.
    — CBS News, 5 Sep. 2024
  • Officers sporadically came to slam him with their riot shields or break his toes, the complaint says.
    — Christie Thompson, NPR, 18 Dec. 2024
  • Lay the broken pieces in a pattern or sporadically for a mosaic look.
    — Claire Hoppe Norgaard, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 Aug. 2025
  • Playing the waiting game too long with someone who has shown flashes of brilliance so sporadically will come to bite you in the end.
    — Arpon Basu, The Athletic, 23 Nov. 2024
  • Russian and Ukrainian forces have been sporadically fighting there for more than a decade.
    — Mike Brest, The Washington Examiner, 15 Dec. 2025
  • Now, protests crop up sporadically in various parts of Tehran throughout each day.
    — Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, 5 Oct. 2022
  • The boat’s water pumps, meant to expel any water, worked only sporadically, and two of the pumps were not working.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 17 Jan. 2023
  • Plants produce fragrant, creamy white blooms in mid-spring and sporadically throughout the summer.
    — Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 18 Feb. 2026
  • Periwinkle has purple, blue or white flowers, which bloom in spring and sporadically in summer and fall.
    — Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 14 Apr. 2026
  • The Ravens have won six the last eight straight up and are 5-3 against the number in a series that is played sporadically.
    — Jack Magruder, Forbes.com, 20 Sep. 2025
  • Other ties have surfaced sporadically across the decades.
    — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 15 Mar. 2026
  • Try texting, a phone call or a video call sporadically and aim to meet up in person whenever possible.
    — Gili Malinsky, CNBC, 3 Dec. 2025
  • Drummer Joey Kramer — who has performed sporadically with the group in recent years — will not be part of the tour.
    — Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press, 1 May 2023
  • The day was observed sporadically in different places around the country.
    — Ernie Suggs, ajc, 16 June 2022
  • Mpox has been reported sporadically in central, east and west Africa, the agency said.
    — Don Sweeney, Sacbee.com, 21 Apr. 2026
  • Dinner parties, on the other hand, occur sporadically with more off-the-cuff planning.
    — Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 7 Feb. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sporadically.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: