Irregular

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Irregular \Ir*reg"u*lar\, a. [Pref. ir- not + regular: cf. F.
     irr['e]gulier.]
     Not regular; not conforming to a law, method, or usage
     recognized as the general rule; not according to common form;
     not conformable to nature, to the rules of moral rectitude,
     or to established principles; not normal; unnatural;


     immethodical; unsymmetrical; erratic; no straight; not
     uniform; as, an irregular line; an irregular figure; an
     irregular verse; an irregular physician; an irregular
     proceeding; irregular motion; irregular conduct, etc. Cf.
     {Regular}.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Mazes intricate,
           Eccentric, intervolved, yet regular
           Then most when most irregular they seem. --Milton.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Leading the men of Herefordshire to fight
           Against the irregular and wild Glendower. --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           A flowery meadow through which a clear stream murmured
           in many irregular meanders.              --Jones.
  
     Syn: Immethodical; unsystematic; abnormal; unnatural;
          anomalous; erratic; devious; crooked; eccentric;
          unsettled; uneven; variable; changeable; mutable;
          desultory; disorderly; wild; immoderate; intemperate;
          inordinate; vicious.
          [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Irregular \Ir*reg"u*lar\, n.
     One who is not regular; especially, a soldier not in regular
     service.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  irregular
       adj 1: contrary to rule or accepted order or general practice;
              "irregular hiring practices" [ant: {regular}]
       2: (of solids) not having clear dimensions that can be
          measured; volume must be determined with the principle of
          liquid displacement [ant: {regular}]
       3: not occurring at expected times [syn: {unpredictable}]
       4: used of the military; not belonging to or engaged in by
          regular army forces; "irregular troops"; "irregular
          warfare" [ant: {regular}]
       5: deviating from what is usual or common or to be expected;
          often somewhat odd or strange; "these days large families
          are atypical"; "highly irregular behavior" [syn: {atypical}]
       6: lacking continuity or regularity; "an irregular worker";
          "employed on a temporary basis" [syn: {temporary}]
       7: of a surface; not level or flat; "walking was difficult on
          the irregular cobblestoned surface"
       8: used of independent armed resistance forces; "guerrilla
          warfare"; "partisan forces" [syn: {guerrilla(a)}, {guerilla(a)},
           {underground}]
       9: independent in behavior or thought; "she led a somewhat
          irregular private life"; "maverick politicians" [syn: {maverick},
           {unorthodox}]
       n 1: a member of an irregular armed force that fights a stronger
            force by sabotage and harassment [syn: {guerrilla}, {guerilla},
             {insurgent}]
       2: merchandise that has imperfections; usually sold at a
          reduced price without the brand name [syn: {second}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  410 Moby Thesaurus words for "irregular":
     Bohemian, Charley, Mickey Mouse, VC, Vietcong, aberrant, abnormal,
     actionable, adrift, affable, afloat, against the law, aimless,
     alternating, amorphous, anamorphous, anarchic, anarchistic,
     anomalistic, anomalous, anomic, askew, asymmetric, asymmetrical,
     atypical, base, bent, bizarre, black-market, bootleg, bowed,
     broken, broken off, bumpy, bushfighter, bushwhacker, capricious,
     careening, casual, catchy, changeable, changeful, changing,
     chargeable, cheap, cheesy, chopped-off, choppy, coarse,
     coarse-grained, cockeyed, common, contorted, contraband,
     contrary to law, cordial, corrugated, craggy, crank, crankish,
     cranky, crazy, criminal, crooked, cross-grained, crotchety,
     crumpled, crunched, decousu, degage, designless, desultory,
     deviable, deviant, deviating, deviative, deviatory, different,
     disarticulated, disconnected, discontinued, discontinuous,
     discrete, disjunct, disjunctive, disordered, disorderly, disparate,
     dispersed, disproportional, disproportionate, distorted,
     divaricate, divergent, diversified, diversiform, dizzy, dotty,
     easy, easygoing, eccentric, episodic, erose, erratic, exceptional,
     extraordinary, familiar, fast and loose, felonious, fey, fickle,
     fitful, flaky, flawed, flickering, flighty, flitting, fluctuating,
     folksy, formless, fourth-class, freakish, freaky, free and easy,
     frivolous, funny, giddy, gracious, grainy, granulated, gratuitous,
     guerrilla, guttering, halting, haphazard, haymish, herky-jerky,
     heteroclite, heteromorphic, hit-or-miss, homely, homespun, homey,
     horripilant, idiocratic, idiosyncratic, ill-matched, ill-sorted,
     illegal, illegitimate, illicit, immethodical, impermissible,
     impetuous, impulsive, inadequate, inchoate, incoherent,
     inconsistent, inconstant, indecisive, indiscriminate, inequal,
     inferior, infirm, informal, insufficient, intermittent,
     intermitting, interrupted, irresolute, irresponsible, jagged,
     jerky, jolty, justiciable, kinky, kooky, labyrinthine, lawless,
     linsey-woolsey, loose, lopsided, low-class, low-grade, low-quality,
     low-test, lumpy, lurching, maggoty, maquis, maquisard, mazy, mean,
     meaningless, mercurial, mismatched, misshapen, moody, motley,
     mutable, natural, nonconforming, nonconformist, nonconstitutional,
     noncontinuous, nonlegal, nonlicit, nonlinear, nonsequential,
     nonserial, nonstandard, nonsymmetric, nonsymmetrical,
     nonsystematic, nonuniform, nutty, occasional, odd, oddball,
     off-balance, off-key, offbeat, offhand, offhanded, one-sided,
     orderless, out of proportion, outlaw, outlawed, overbalanced,
     paltry, parenthetic, partisan, patchy, patriot, peculiar, pimply,
     pitted, plain, planless, pluralistic, pocky, poor, potholed,
     promiscuous, punishable, punk, purposeless, queer, quirky, ragged,
     rambling, random, rank, relaxed, resistance, resistance fighter,
     restless, ripply, rough, rough-grained, rough-hewn, roving,
     ruffled, rutted, rutty, scatterbrained, schlock, schmatte, scrappy,
     screwball, screwy, second, second-best, second-class, seedy,
     senseless, shabby, shagged, shaggy, shapeless, shifting, shifty,
     shuffling, simple, singular, skew, skewed, snatchy, sociable,
     spasmatic, spasmic, spasmodic, spastic, spineless, sporadic,
     spotty, sprung, staggering, straggling, straggly, strange, stray,
     straying, subnormal, suspended, systemless, tacky, textured, third,
     third-class, third-rate, tinny, tortuous, triable, twisted,
     unaccountable, unaffected, unallowed, unarranged, unassuming,
     unauthorized, unbalanced, unceremonious, uncertain, unclassified,
     uncommon, unconnected, unconsidered, unconstitutional,
     unconstrained, uncontrolled, unconventional, undependable,
     under-the-counter, under-the-table, underground,
     underground fighter, undirected, undisciplined, unequable, unequal,
     uneven, unfixed, ungraded, unique, unjoined, unkempt, unlawful,
     unlevel, unmethodical, unmetrical, unnatural, unofficial,
     unordered, unorganized, unorthodox, unpolished, unpredictable,
     unrefined, unregular, unreliable, unrestrained, unrhythmical,
     unsettled, unsmooth, unsorted, unstable, unstable as water,
     unstaid, unstatutory, unsteadfast, unsteady, unstudied,
     unsuccessive, unsymmetric, unsymmetrical, unsystematic, ununiform,
     unusual, unwarrantable, unwarranted, vacillating, vagrant, vague,
     variable, variegated, variform, various, varying, veering,
     vicissitudinary, vicissitudinous, volatile, wacky, wandering,
     wanton, warped, wavering, wavery, wavy, wayward, weird, whimsical,
     wimpled, wishy-washy, wobbling, wobbly, wrongful
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  IRREGULAR. That which is done contrary to the common rules of law; as, 
  irregular process, which is that issued contrary to law and the common 
  practice of the court. Vide Regular and. Irregular Process.