jeopardy

[jep-er-dee]

noun

plural

jeopardies 

1. hazard or risk of or exposure to loss, harm, death, or injury.

   For a moment his life was in jeopardy.

   Antonyms: security

2. peril or danger.

   The spy was in constant jeopardy of being discovered.

   Antonyms: security

3. Law.,  the danger or hazard of being found guilty, and of consequent punishment, undergone by criminal defendants on trial.

jeopardy

/ ˈdʒɛpədɪ /

noun

1. danger of injury, loss, death, etc; risk; peril; hazard

   his health was in jeopardy

2. law danger of being convicted and punished for a criminal offence See also double jeopardy

Word History and Origins

Origin of jeopardy¹

1200–50; Middle English j ( e ) uparti, joupardi ( e ), j ( e ) upardi ( e ) < Anglo-French, Old French: literally, divided game or play, hence, uncertain chance, problem (in chess or love), equivalent to j ( e ) u play, game (< Latin jocus joke ) + parti, past participle of partir to divide; party

Word History and Origins

Origin of jeopardy¹

C14: from Old French jeu parti, literally: divided game, hence uncertain issue, from jeu game, from Latin jocus joke, game + partir to divide, from Latin partīrī

Synonym Study

See danger.

Example Sentences

He was acquitted in the 1990s and, due to the double jeopardy law, was unable to be prosecuted again, despite later making admissions to a prison guard that he was guilty.

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Pankow was scared to death when I was driving the car: “You have no business doing this. My life is in jeopardy.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE.

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Decades of American dominance had sucked the jeopardy and therefore the interest out of the biennial contest between the United States and Great Britain.

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That’s when I started saying that Colbert may be in jeopardy.

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Related Words

• peril