patchy

Patchy is an adjective used to describe something that exists in patches or is unevenly distributed, presenting irregular coverage or completeness. It often conveys a sense of incompleteness or inconsistency, as opposed to uniform or continuous. A patchy rainfall pattern means rain falls in some areas while others stay dry; patchy mobile network coverage refers to zones with and without signal; patchy data or patchy records indicate gaps in information.

The term comes from patch, meaning a piece or section, with the suffix -y to form an adjective implying "characterized by patches." It is widely used in meteorology, ecology, geography, technology, dermatology, and everyday speech.

In everyday language, patchy can describe anything with uneven quality or distribution, such as patchy memories of an event or patchy color on fabric. In dermatology, patchy skin denotes areas that differ in pigment or texture from surrounding skin, while in ecology, patchy habitats support discrete populations rather than a continuous habitat.

Common related terms include patchiness (the quality of being patchy) and patchiness in data, which signals incomplete coverage. Antonyms include uniform, continuous, or comprehensive.

Examples: The forest shows patchy tree growth due to soil variation; the survey had patchy responses; the weather forecast warned of patchy showers.