as in randomly
without definite aim, direction, rule, or method
wandered aimlessly through the forest until we were hopelessly lost
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Recent Examples of aimlessly
Donovan Mitchell, whose box score of 21 points was deceiving, dribbled aimlessly while being hounded by Detroit defenders until his weak shot attempt was easily knocked away by Ausar Thompson before time expired.
—
Joe Vardon, New York Times, 14 May 2026
Too much for a pocket, these small yet crucial items usually float aimlessly in a big bag.
—Rosie Jarman, Vogue, 30 Apr. 2026
Windshield after windshield smashed in Linden Surveillance video from a Linden apartment complex shows a person in the early hours of Monday morning drive up, get out of his vehicle and throw bricks through the windshields of parked cars, chucking them aimlessly from multiple launch points.
—Allen Devlin, CBS News, 6 Apr. 2026
Scrolling your phone aimlessly can feel awkward.
—Lauren Schuster, Sacbee.com, 6 Apr. 2026
For six of the last seven years, this franchise has been wandering aimlessly through the wilderness of baseball purgatory.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 21 Mar. 2026
Alternatively, spend afternoons aimlessly wandering neighborhoods like Dorsoduro or Cannaregio, where small wine bars known as bacari serve local vino and cicchetti (think Venetian tapas like olives, crostini, and arancini).
—Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 12 Mar. 2026
With no emotional attachment to Carter or their friends, Maria spends her days driving aimlessly around southern California and occasionally indulging in unengaged affairs.
—David Tucker, Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Mar. 2026
Verona almost won it in stoppage time but Kieron Bowie couldn’t keep his attempt on target after Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret flapped aimlessly at a cross.
—ABC News, 28 Feb. 2026
Joe Vardon, New York Times, 14 May 2026
Too much for a pocket, these small yet crucial items usually float aimlessly in a big bag.
—Rosie Jarman, Vogue, 30 Apr. 2026
Windshield after windshield smashed in Linden Surveillance video from a Linden apartment complex shows a person in the early hours of Monday morning drive up, get out of his vehicle and throw bricks through the windshields of parked cars, chucking them aimlessly from multiple launch points.
—Allen Devlin, CBS News, 6 Apr. 2026
Scrolling your phone aimlessly can feel awkward.
—Lauren Schuster, Sacbee.com, 6 Apr. 2026
For six of the last seven years, this franchise has been wandering aimlessly through the wilderness of baseball purgatory.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 21 Mar. 2026
Alternatively, spend afternoons aimlessly wandering neighborhoods like Dorsoduro or Cannaregio, where small wine bars known as bacari serve local vino and cicchetti (think Venetian tapas like olives, crostini, and arancini).
—Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 12 Mar. 2026
With no emotional attachment to Carter or their friends, Maria spends her days driving aimlessly around southern California and occasionally indulging in unengaged affairs.
—David Tucker, Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Mar. 2026
Verona almost won it in stoppage time but Kieron Bowie couldn’t keep his attempt on target after Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret flapped aimlessly at a cross.
—ABC News, 28 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for aimlessly
randomly
Adverb
-
The act also would have shifted oversight of safety and testing from the Marijuana Enforcement Division to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and funded a program in which regulators would randomly collect marijuana products from dispensaries to test them for contaminants.—
Christopher Osher,
ProPublica,
15 May 2026
-
Patients were randomly assigned to one of four groups.—
Melissa Rudy,
FOXNews.com,
15 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Aimlessly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/aimlessly. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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