indiscriminate

Meanings

1. 1adjectivecomparabledisapproving

   Applied or done without choosing carefully, so that anyone or anything may be hit or included.

   Grammar: Often placed before a noun: indiscriminate shooting; it can also follow be: the damage was indiscriminate.

   Patterns

   • indiscriminate use of something
   • indiscriminate in something

   The storm caused indiscriminate damage, flattening both mansions and sheds.

   Doctors warn against the indiscriminate use of antibiotics.

   The fishing nets are indiscriminate and trap dolphins along with tuna.

2. 2adjectivecomparable

   Having no standards about what one picks or accepts; unselective.

   Grammar: Describes a person's habits: an indiscriminate reader takes whatever book is nearby.

   Patterns

   • indiscriminate about something

   As a child he was an indiscriminate reader, devouring comics and encyclopedias alike.

   Her taste in music is indiscriminate; she will play anything.

   The committee was indiscriminate in handing out awards.

Common combinations

indiscriminate killing

The treaty condemns the indiscriminate killing of civilians.

indiscriminate use

The indiscriminate use of pesticides harmed local bees.

indiscriminate attack

Witnesses described an indiscriminate attack on the market.

indiscriminate buying

Indiscriminate buying left the shop with piles of unsold stock.

wholly indiscriminate

The sampling method was wholly indiscriminate and gave unreliable results.

Synonyms and how they differ

random

Random stresses chance and lack of pattern, but it does not always imply harm the way indiscriminate often does.

wholesale

Wholesale suggests large-scale, sweeping action, while indiscriminate focuses on the failure to choose.

promiscuous

Promiscuous in this broad sense means mixing or choosing without standards, but it more often refers to casual sexual relationships, so it is riskier to use.

haphazard

Haphazard suggests carelessness and poor organization, but not necessarily widespread effect on many targets.

Opposites

Word family

indiscriminately adverb

in a way that does not choose or distinguish

indiscrimination noun

lack of careful selection (rare)

discriminate verb

to see or draw a difference between things

discriminating adjective

having good judgment or taste

Commonly confused: indiscriminate or discriminatory?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “indiscriminate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words