Question:

Choose the correct synonym out of the four choices given.
Sporadic

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Think of "sporadic firing" or "sporadic showers". The events are scattered and come at irregular gaps, not in one steady spread.
Updated On: Jul 17, 2026
  • epidemic
  • whirling
  • occasional
  • stagnant
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The Correct Option is C

Solution and Explanation

"Sporadic" describes something that happens now and then, at irregular intervals and in scattered places, with no fixed pattern. Newspapers use it in lines like "sporadic firing was reported along the border", meaning the firing came in bursts rather than continuously. The synonym must carry this sense of occurring only from time to time.

  1. epidemic: This means spreading widely and rapidly through a population. It is close to the opposite of sporadic, and in fact medicine sets the two against each other: sporadic cases are stray and scattered, while an epidemic is a general outbreak.
  2. whirling: This means spinning fast in circles. It describes a kind of motion, not the frequency of an event, so it does not connect with the given word at all.
  3. occasional: This means happening from time to time and not regularly. That is exactly what sporadic conveys, so it is the closest match.
  4. stagnant: This means still and not moving or growing, as with stagnant water. Sporadic events do occur, just irregularly, so "stagnant" points in a different direction.

So the correct option is (C) occasional. "Sporadic showers" and "occasional showers" would both mean rain that comes in scattered spells.

Let's summarize:

  • Sporadic means irregular, scattered and now and then.
  • "Epidemic" suggests wide and rapid spread, "whirling" describes motion, and "stagnant" means motionless, so none of them fit.

The answer is (C) occasional.

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