The adjective erratic indicates that someone or something is moving without a fixed course. Thus, in the sentence "my friend makes an erratic trip across the country" it is indicated that someone travels without a specific plan and without a previously defined course. If someone radically changes their behavior, it could also be said that they have erratic behavior.
Erratic and wrong are not synonymous
Although both words come from the verb errar, which means to be wrong, the adjective erratic does not mean erroneous. It is said that something is wrong when it is not correct, that is, when it is a mistake. Instead, erratic expresses that something or someone is aimless. With relative frequency in the mass media these adjectives are used as if they were really equivalent, but they are not.
In the sentence "after a rather erratic first half, the striker recovered and played a great game" the erratic term would be misused, since it is referring to the fact that the forward did not play a good first half and not that he was playing without course.
Erratic behaviors can be a symptom of a mental problem
Certain personality disorders are characterized by disturbances in behavior. One of the most characteristic symptoms is precisely the presence of erratic behaviors, that is, sudden and sudden changes for no apparent reason. Passive behaviors followed by aggressive behaviors would be an example of this type of behavior.
An erratic life
Certain people flee from conventions and prefer to live without ties and without plans. If someone travels from one place to another in a totally improvised way and avoids following a fixed plan, that person can be said to lead an erratic life. The adventurer who travels alone and does not have a fixed address would be the human archetype that expresses the idea of an erratic life.
The erratic movement in physics and in the stock market
In the field of physics, certain movements are not uniform or linear and, therefore, their mathematical description is complex. This mode of movement is known as erratic and generally occurs in the world of subatomic particles.
In the world of the stock market there is talk of an "erratic stock market" to refer to the changing and unpredictable oscillations that occur in relation to the prices of the stock markets. The risk of investing in the stock market is based precisely on the erratic movements of the values.
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