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Synonyms

fifty-fifty

American  
[fif-tee-fif-tee] / ˈfɪf tiˈfɪf ti /
Or 50-50

adjective

  1. equally good and bad, likely and unlikely, favorable and unfavorable, etc..

    a fifty-fifty chance of winning.

adverb

  1. in an evenly or equally divided way.

    The board voted fifty-fifty on the merger.

idioms

  1. go fifty-fifty (on), to share equally in the cost, responsibility, or profits (of ).

    We went fifty-fifty on the dinner check.
fifty-fifty British  

adjective

  1. informal shared or sharing equally; in equal parts

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
fifty-fifty More Idioms  

  1. see under under go halves.

Etymology

Origin of fifty-fifty

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15

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.

He practiced what Mr. Leeke calls “the fifty-fifty defense”: When he was unsure of a call, he had a 50% chance of guessing correctly.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026

Squid born in early July had a fifty-fifty chance of using either tactic.

From Science Daily • Apr. 23, 2024

For Australia's Reserve Bank, bets are fifty-fifty for a half-point or quarter-point hike on Tuesday.

From Reuters • Sep. 30, 2022

UK Met Office researchers say that there's now around a fifty-fifty chance that the world will warm by more than 1.5C over the next five years.

From BBC • May 9, 2022

Jean de Satigny was looking for a partner to put up the capital, the work, and the stock houses; someone who would run all the risks and divide the profits fifty-fifty.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende

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.