Literary notes about erratic (AI summary)
In literary works, "erratic" is often employed to evoke a sense of unpredictability and irregularity in both human character and the natural world. Authors use the word to depict eccentric or capricious personalities—illustrated by characters whose thoughts or temperaments wander unpredictably ([1], [2], [3])—as well as to describe transient phenomena such as an unpredictable course at sea or irregular weather patterns ([4], [5], [6]). Additionally, "erratic" serves as a versatile descriptor for varied contexts, from the irregular deposition of geological formations ([7], [8]) to the unpredictable movements of characters or elements in a narrative ([9], [10]). This multifaceted use underscores its power to convey a dynamic lack of steadiness, whether in the realm of intellect, emotion, or the forces of nature.
- wheels in the (or his ) head, to have : A slang phrase used as a substitute for “to be eccentric, peculiar, or erratic.”
— from A Desk-Book of Errors in English
Including Notes on Colloquialisms and Slang to be Avoided in Conversation by Frank H. Vizetelly - She could not follow the flights of his mind, and when his brain got beyond her, she deemed him erratic.
— from Martin Eden by Jack London - He was an able teacher, if at times erratic and absent-minded.
— from The Academic Gregories by Agnes Grainger Stewart - No other sector has experienced such growth, especially not agriculture, which is plagued by erratic rainfall and poor soils.
— from The 1994 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency - The locked wheel was now steering the “Restless” over an erratic course, but Hank swiftly had the boat on her true course once more.
— from The Motor Boat Club and The Wireless; Or, the Dot, Dash and Dare Cruise by H. Irving (Harrie Irving) Hancock - Throughout a large part of the United States, erratic boulders and scored rocks plainly reveal a former cold period.
— from The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin - The discovery came from attempts to explain certain disturbing things called “erratic blocks.”
— from Early Man in the New World by Joseph A. Hester - Erratic boulders have, also, been noticed on the Rocky Mountains.
— from The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin - The fusillade was uninterrupted, but erratic, except for a few snipers perched here and there in the trees.
— from The Americans in the Great War; v. 3. The Meuse-Argonne Battlefields
(Montfaucon, Romagne, Saint-Menehould) - Keokuk, a long time ago, was an occasional loafing-place of that erratic genius, Henry Clay Dean.
— from Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain