systematic
- 1Done in a planned, careful order, one step at a time.
Like following a recipe in order, one step at a time.
The team took a systematic approach to checking every machine.
Her cleaning was systematic, going room by room until the house was finished.
Similarmethodical, organized, orderly, structured, thorough
Oppositehaphazard, random, unsystematic, disorganized
- 2Careful and orderly, doing things in a regular way.
Like a person who always puts things back in the same place.
He is a systematic worker who never leaves a task half-finished.
Their systematic habits kept the lab tidy and well organized.
Similarmethodical, orderly, organized, meticulous
Note
- 3Looking at something as one whole system, not just separate parts.
Like seeing a clock as one working machine, not just loose gears.
They took a systematic view of the city's traffic, not just one road at a time.
A systematic study of the body treats all the organs as one connected whole.
Similarholistic, integrated
Oppositepiecemeal, fragmented
Note
- 4About sorting living things into groups by type.
Like sorting a huge stamp collection by country and then by year.
The museum has a systematic display of beetles arranged by family.
Scientists use systematic methods to group plants by shared traits.
Similartaxonomic
Note
- 5Following the agreed rules for naming chemicals.
Like a standard way to write a date so no one mixes up the month and day.
The textbook gives the systematic name for table salt, sodium chloride.
Chemists prefer the systematic name so everyone knows the exact compound.
Oppositetrivial
Note
- 6In a planned, orderly way, doing one thing after another.
"Don't rush it," Grandpa said. "Do it systematic, one row at a time."
"We're gonna check every locker, nice and systematic," the coach told us.
Similarmethodically, thoroughly, carefully
Oppositehaphazardly, randomly
Note
Less common meaning
- 7Forming a system, or belonging to one.
Like seeing the whole world as one giant clockwork machine.
The old philosophers described a systematic order linking all the heavens.
He believed nature formed one great systematic whole.
Note
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
It comes from Late Latin systematicus, which came from a Greek word based on 'system'.