chancy

American  

[chan-see, chahn-] / ˈtʃæn si, ˈtʃɑn- /

adjective

chancier, chanciest

1. uncertain, hazardous, or risky.

   Synonyms:

   venturesome, dubious, doubtful, precarious

   Antonyms:

   predictable, certain, sure

2. random; haphazard; subject to chance.

3. Chiefly Scot. lucky.

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chancy British  

/ ˈtʃɑːnsɪ /

adjective

1. informal of uncertain outcome or temperament; risky

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Other Word Forms

• chancily adverb
• chanciness noun

Etymology

Origin of chancy

First recorded in 1505–15; chance + -y ¹

Example Sentences

For Broadcom, though, it amounts to a big bet on a chancy customer.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 14, 2025

From here on, the origin mythology of the astounding new orange is as serendipitous and chancy as the odds of human evolution happening again.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 22, 2024

A month earlier that same year, in 1935, Einstein, Rosen and Boris Podolsky made another breakthrough, one they thought would discredit the chancy nature of quantum mechanics.

From New York Times • Nov. 30, 2022

Still, in a crisis, China’s People’s Liberation Army could attempt a chancy gambit like offloading amphibious vehicles from the ferries at sea or using floating causeways, Dahm said.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 23, 2022

“Mr. Stonecrop, tourism is at best a chancy business.”

From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt