Definition
Intermittent describes what arrives in installments — the Latin intermittere means 'to leave off between', and the gaps are the point: intermittent rain is rain you can walk between; an intermittent signal works right up until it matters. Unlike 'sporadic', which scatters events thinly, intermittent implies an ongoing thing that keeps switching off and on, so you can never quite rely on it and never quite give up on it either.
Examples
- Intermittent rain interrupted the match throughout the afternoon.
- The village's intermittent electricity supply makes refrigeration precarious.
- Engineers spent weeks chasing an intermittent fault that refused to emerge under test conditions.
Collocations
intermittent rain·an intermittent signal·intermittent fasting·an intermittent fault·intermittent supply
Synonyms
sporadic·periodic·fitful·on-and-off·irregular
Antonyms
continuous·constant·uninterrupted
Word family
intermittently (adverb)·intermittence (noun)
In TOEFL & IELTS
The technical term of TOEFL energy passages: solar and wind power are 'intermittent sources', and whole arguments about storage hang on that word. IELTS listening uses it for weather and equipment; 'intermittently' is a precise adverb for describing irregular trends. Engineers' folklore — the intermittent fault is the hardest to fix — shows exactly the meaning: failure that won't stay still long enough to be caught.