vagary
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of vagary
1565–75, in sense “wandering journey”; apparently < Latin vagārī to wander
Explanation
A vagary is an unexpected and unpredictable change, and the word is usually used in the plural. You might know from experience that the vagaries of winter weather make planning a vacation in February a risky proposition. Vagary traces back to the Latin root meaning "wander," and you can think of a vagary as something that wanders. Events or situations that seem to change at random have vagaries. Whether the hottest new boy band will succeed or not is dependent on the vagaries of teenage enthusiasms. The vagaries of the real estate market will determine whether that swamp property you just bought is a gold mine or a disaster.
Vocabulary lists containing vagary
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Christopher Columbus' Diary: The First Voyage
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A Separate Peace
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
An interesting, sciencey explanation of the Y chromosome and sex distinction in all it’s vagary and confusion, and the strange trip through the behaviors of the life span of the males of many species.
From New York Times ● Dec. 19, 2019
It covers the whole wide world of early-19th-century trade, and it evinces a worldly acceptance of human disparity and vagary.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 16, 2018
If they mess up — or even if the issue is just a vagary of your own personal preferences — it’s only right to give them another chance.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 5, 2017
Normally, this would result in a total solar eclipse, but for a vagary of orbital mechanics: It happened when the Moon was near apogee, the point in its orbit when it’s farthest from Earth.
From Slate ● Dec. 23, 2013
As Sullivan saw it, “Burnham came out of his somnambulistic vagary and joined in. He was keen enough to understand that ‘Uncle Dick’”—meaning Hunt—“had done him a needed favor.”
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
And if so, just who, on a day when the vagaries of links golf on the blustery Lancashire coast propelled several players into realistic contention and just as quickly swept their aspirations aside.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
First, practice distinguishing between what the Constitution says and what judges and justices say about the Constitution, a document riddled with aspirational vagaries and flexible abstractions.
From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026
Kering has long been heavily reliant on Gucci and, by extension, on the vagaries of the fashion cycle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
The vagaries of that schedule will require flexibility and depth and will likely force Dos Santos to rotate players in and out of the lineup.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 10, 2026
Reverend Goodacre discussed the vagaries of the cotton market with my father.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
