scattered

scattered — adjective

1. positioned far apart from each other across an area, or happening at different t

1.adjectiveC2
Definition

positioned far apart from each other across an area, or happening at different times with noticeable gaps in between

Example

Eitan lives in a region of scattered villages separated by thick forests.

attributive use before noun: scattered villages

Roya noticed scattered papers all over the floor of the empty office.

attributive use: scattered papers

Common collocations
  • scattered villages
  • scattered houses
  • scattered showers
  • scattered applause
  • scattered remains
  • scattered debris
  • scattered clouds
  • scattered thoughts
  • scattered population
Synonyms
  • spread out

    more informal and general; suggests things placed at a distance from each other

  • dispersed

    stronger emphasis on the action of separating; often used for groups of people or animals

  • sparse

    focuses on low density rather than the arrangement; fewer things present overall

Antonyms
  • concentrated

    things gathered closely together in one place

  • dense

    many things close together with little space between them

  • continuous

    without gaps in time or space

Grammar Patterns

scattered + prepositional phrase

scattered + across/throughout/over + noun phrase

Usage Note

Commonly used with prepositions like 'across', 'throughout', and 'over' to describe the area or time range. The temporal sense (e.g. 'scattered applause', 'scattered showers') describes things that happen at irregular intervals rather than continuously.

Common Mistakes

There were scatter clouds in the sky.
There were scattered clouds in the sky.
'scattered' is the adjective form; 'scatter' is the verb form and cannot modify a noun.
The towns are scatter throughout the valley.
The towns are scattered throughout the valley.
the adjective form must be used after the verb 'be'.

Word family

  • scatter
    verbB2
  • scattering
    nounC1
  • scatteredly
    adverbC2
  • scatterbrain
    nounC1
  • scatterbrained
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

'Scattered' is the most versatile of these words, describing things that are far apart in either space or time. 'Sporadic' focuses on irregular timing (sporadic gunfire), while 'scattered' works equally well for location. 'Diffuse' emphasises something spread thinly in all directions (diffuse light, a diffuse organisation), often with a sense of lacking focus. 'Dispersed' highlights the action of separation — a crowd disperses, whereas scattered things may simply be that way. 'Spread out' is conversational and neutral: you can spread out a map or live in a spread-out city. For spatial density, use 'scattered'; for timing, 'scattered' or 'sporadic'; for thorough but loose distribution, 'diffuse'.

sporadicdiffusedispersedspread out ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • scattered showers
  • scattered villages
  • scattered applause
  • scattered clouds
  • scattered remains
  • scattered population
  • scattered debris

Adverbs

  • widely scattered
  • thinly scattered
  • sparsely scattered
  • randomly scattered
  • evenly scattered

Phrases

  • scattered here and there
  • scattered far and wide
  • scattered over the area

Prepositions

  • scattered across
  • scattered throughout
  • scattered among
  • scattered over
  • scattered around

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

'Scattered' comes from the Middle English word 'scateren' (to separate and drive in different directions), which traces back to the Old English 'sceaterian' (to scatter, disperse). The adjective form developed in the 14th century, originally applied to objects physically thrown apart, and later extended to things spread across time or space. Related words exist in other Germanic languages, such as the Old Norse 'skattr' (tribute, tax) and the German 'schütten' (to pour).