Definition

Adjective: - Covering a wide range in a haphazard or indiscriminate way: Describes an approach, method, or effort that is broad, random, and not carefully targeted or focused.

Usage

The adjective "scattershot" is used to characterize actions, strategies, or collections that are widespread but lack precision, planning, or a clear objective. It often implies inefficiency or a lack of focus.

Examples

• The company's scattershot marketing campaign reached many people but failed to engage its core audience.
• Her research was scattershot, collecting data from everywhere without a specific hypothesis.
• He took a scattershot approach to applying for jobs, sending his resume to hundreds of companies in different fields.

Advanced Usage

• "Scattershot" as a modifier: It frequently modifies nouns like "approach," "method," "strategy," "campaign," or "effort" to criticize their lack of focus.
  • The government's scattershot policies failed to address the root causes of the economic crisis.

Variants and Related Words

• Scatter (verb): To throw or spread things untidily over an area.
• Shotgun approach (noun phrase): A near-synonymous idiom meaning a broad, indiscriminate method.

Synonyms

• Indiscriminate: Done at random or without careful judgment.
• Haphazard: Lacking any obvious principle of organization.
• Broad-brush: Dealing with a subject in a general, non-specific way.

Antonyms

• Targeted: Directed at a precise, specific objective.
• Focused: Concentrated on a particular thing.
• Systematic: Done or acting according to a fixed plan or system.

Related Idioms/Phrases

• Shotgun approach: (As mentioned above) An idiom with a very similar meaning to "scattershot," emphasizing a wide, non-selective range.
  • Instead of a shotgun approach, we need a targeted strategy.

Adjective

1. covering a wide range in a haphazard way