Standard Lemma guide

choppy

adj · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈt͡ʃɒ.pi/
  • General-American: /ˈt͡ʃɑ.pi/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɒpi
  • CMU ARPABET: CH AA1 P IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Having many small, rough waves.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Discontinuous, intermittent.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The sound is choppy in this video.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Shifting, variable

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

rough with small waves

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • choppy seas

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective satellite

Meaning 5

marked by abrupt transitions

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • choppy prose

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: jerky

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English chop Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English choppy From chop + -y.

Across languages

Translations

28 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: развълнуван (razvǎlnuvan) — having many small, rough waves
  • Catalan: tempestuós — having many small, rough waves
  • Catalan: agitat — having many small, rough waves
  • Czech: rozbouřený — having many small, rough waves
  • Czech: neklidný — having many small, rough waves
  • Czech: zčeřený — having many small, rough waves
  • Czech: zvlněný — having many small, rough waves
  • Czech: rozvlněný — having many small, rough waves
  • French: haché — having many small, rough waves
  • French: saccadé — having many small, rough waves
  • Galician: picado — having many small, rough waves
  • Irish: útamáilte — having many small, rough waves
  • Italian: increspato — having many small, rough waves
  • Māori: whenewhene — having many small, rough waves
  • Māori: hīnarunaru — having many small, rough waves
  • Māori: karekare — having many small, rough waves
  • Spanish: picado — having many small, rough waves
  • Spanish: encrespado — having many small, rough waves
  • Swedish: krabb — having many small, rough waves
  • Arabic: مُتَقَطِّع (mutaqaṭṭiʕ) — discontinuous, intermittent
  • Central Bikol: ragana — discontinuous, intermittent
  • Bulgarian: накъсан (nakǎsan) — discontinuous, intermittent
  • Catalan: entretallat — discontinuous, intermittent
  • Chinese Mandarin: 斷斷續續 /断断续续 (duànduànxùxù) — discontinuous, intermittent
  • Czech: trhaný — discontinuous, intermittent
  • Czech: přerušovaný — discontinuous, intermittent
  • Spanish: entrecortado — discontinuous, intermittent
  • Bulgarian: поривист (porivist) — of wind