dicey

American  

[dahy-see] / ˈdaɪ si /

adjective

Informal.

• dicier,
  comparative
• diciest
  superlative

1. unpredictable; risky; uncertain.

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dicey British  

/ ˈdaɪsɪ /

adjective

1. difficult or dangerous; risky; tricky

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Other Word Forms

Adjective Inflected Forms

• dicier
  comparative
• diciest
  superlative

Etymology

Origin of dicey

First recorded in 1935–40; dice + -ey ¹

Explanation

Something that's dicey is unpredictable — and it may even be risky or downright dangerous. Bringing up controversial subjects like politics at Thanksgiving dinner with your relatives can be dicey. If you fix your motorcycle yourself, you may feel like it's a pretty dicey vehicle for riding on the highway, and when you're not at all sure how you did on your biology final, you might say, "Phew, that was dicey." Dicey is an informal word that comes from the idea of the unknown outcome of "a roll of the dice," from aviator's jargon around 1940.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dicey dicier diciest

While “Drag Race” is no longer a niche program, the art of drag remains contentious, and giving a wide release to a film like this is both confident and dicey.

From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026

Business schools are lowering the costs of advanced degrees to try to appeal to workers spooked by AI and a dicey job market.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026

Last week, we asked you to tell us about your biggest money mistakes — and you opened up about everything from dicey stock-market bets to spending habits that got out of control.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 7, 2026

Brian Katulis, a former national security official under both Democrat and Republican administrations, said Trump's threats came in the context of a "very dicey moment for the international order".

From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2026

Fifteen minutes of dicey, fatiguing crampon work brought me safely to the bottom of the incline, where I easily located my pack, and another ten minutes after that I was in camp myself.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

What may have started out as a good idea became too good as deals got dicier.

From Barron's ● Mar. 27, 2026

But Mitchell did step in during some of Wuthering Heights' dicier scenes to make sure the star was safe.

From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026

A December rate cut “is a little dicier than markets have it right now. You’re hanging a lot on the slowdown in nonfarm payrolls,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2025

You don’t really want to hit a guardrail with a vehicle like that, but electrification can make things even dicier.

From Slate ● Feb. 6, 2024

Moore liked always "digito monstrari et dicier, 'Hic est'"; and his Journal abounds with records of his ingenuous satisfaction in such tributes.

From Thomas Moore by Stephen Lucius Gwynn

Nor will Sir Keir’s diciest moments politically over the coming months necessarily all be a result of big tax and spend decisions he makes.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2024

When they did in Thursday’s third quarter, their lead grew during what have been the Clippers’ diciest stretches all season — the minutes that George sits for rest.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2021

This isn’t any kind of journalism, not even the diciest variety of supermarket tabloidism.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 8, 2019

But Clement’s diciest moment came when Justice Elena Kagan faced him down.

From Slate ● Mar. 27, 2013

Perhaps the diciest situation is in Dallas, where prevailing opinion is the Cowboys have tons of ability on the field, very little of it away from the field.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 5, 2012

Related Words

• ticklish
• tricky
• uncertain
• unpredictable