Scattered means spread out over a wide area in an irregular or random way, rather than grouped together neatly. When you accidentally drop a box of crayons, they end up scattered across the floor instead of staying in a tidy pile. After a windstorm, fallen leaves lie scattered across the lawn. A teacher might tell students to pick up scattered papers before leaving the classroom.

The word also describes things that happen irregularly or without a clear pattern. Weather forecasters predict scattered showers when rain will fall in some places but not others, popping up here and there throughout the day rather than soaking everything at once. A student whose attention is scattered finds it hard to focus on one thing because their mind keeps jumping to different thoughts.

When you scatter something, you spread it around deliberately. A gardener might scatter seeds across a plot of soil, or you might scatter bread crumbs for birds. The opposite of scattered is concentrated or clustered, where things gather together in one place. If your toys are scattered around your room, you need to gather them up before you can find what you're looking for.