patchy

From patch + -y.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpæt͡ʃi/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ætʃi

patchy (comparative patchier, superlative patchiest)

1. Full of, or covered with, patches; abounding in patches.
2. Not constant or continuous; intermittent or uneven.

   patchy clouds

   a patchy performance

   • 2022 January 12, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Unhappy start to 2022”, in RAIL, number 948, page 3:

     Added to these woes was the Treasury's demands for across-the-board train operator cost-cutting of broadly 10%. Passenger rail's slow, patchy and fragile recovery had the stuffing knocked out of it once more.

• (not constant or continuous): spasmodic, stop-start; see also Thesaurus:discontinuous