chancy
Americanadjective
-
uncertain, hazardous, or risky.
- Synonyms:
- venturesome, dubious, doubtful, precarious
- Antonyms:
- predictable, certain, sure
-
random; haphazard; subject to chance.
-
Chiefly Scot. lucky.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of chancy
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:
Why replace a proven technology—mirrors and glass—with chancy camera feeds and video displays?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 25, 2026
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
But as this chancy viewing geometry suggests, most planets will never transit as seen from Earth, which renders them effectively invisible to this workhorse detection technique.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 6, 2023
Placing the orchestra on the stage might seem acoustically chancy: wouldn’t the sound overwhelm the singers?
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 21, 2023
Lunch was now out of the question, so was breakfast; and having pap ’n vleis became a sporadic, chancy luxury.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
Marlene seemed confident about it back in Boston; but in Salt Lake City she makes the Fireflies’ plan sound chancier.
From New York Times ● Mar. 12, 2023
His playing is cerebral, and sometimes playful, but, because his vocabulary is so expansive, it is also riveting: in his chancier attempts, he seems unsure himself of where he is going.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 16, 2014
The leadership at United Artists wanted the company to release more commercial work, while Mr. Ray remained committed to chancier, personal cinema.
From New York Times ● Feb. 3, 2012
The new Rosie--out, stout and lout--was chancier as an icon for mainstream moms.
From Time Magazine Archive
A man can trust his luck, but a society can’t; and cultural change, like random mutation, may make things chancier.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
The third and fourth episodes are premium catnip — the third being the chanciest, since it's a nearly 50-minute look at a sketch that runs five minutes and 42 seconds.
From Salon ● Jan. 16, 2025
This, says Milwaukee's Dr. H. William Bardenwerper, is probably the chanciest thing the doctor could do.
From Time Magazine Archive
This might be the dumbest idea I’ve ever had; it’s definitely the chanciest.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
And I say all of you,' she went on, 'don't you think it's worth spending ALL the money, if there's even the chanciest chance of getting Father and Mother back safe NOW?
From The Story of the Amulet by E. (Edith) Nesbit
Business—just plain everyday business—is the gamiest, chanciest, most thrilling line there is to-day, and I'm for it.
From Roast Beef, Medium by Edna Ferber
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
