vicissitude
Americannoun
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a change or variation occurring in the course of something.
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interchange or alternation, as of states or things.
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vicissitudes, successive, alternating, or changing phases or conditions, as of life or fortune; ups and downs.
They remained friends through the vicissitudes of 40 years.
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regular change or succession of one state or thing to another.
noun
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variation or mutability in nature or life, esp successive alternation from one condition or thing to another
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a variation in circumstance, fortune, character, etc
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of vicissitude
First recorded in 1560–70; from Middle French, from Latin vicissitūdō, equivalent to viciss(im) “in turn” (perhaps by syncope, from unrecorded vice-cessim; vice “in the place of” + cessim “giving way,“ adverbial derivative of cēdere “to go, proceed”) + -i- -i- + -tūdō -tude; see also vice 3
Explanation
When you talk of the vicissitudes of life, you're referring to the difficult times that we all go through: sickness, job loss, and other unwelcome episodes. No one can escape the vicissitudes of life. While vicissitude comes from the Latin vicis, which means "change" and technically can mean a change of any kind, you'll find that vicissitude is almost always used to talk about an unfortunate event or circumstance. Losing a pet, crashing the car, being called in for jury duty: these are examples of vicissitudes — chapters in one's life that one would rather avoid but must get through. Some lives have more vicissitudes than others, to be sure, but no life is without events that test and challenge us.
Vocabulary lists containing vicissitude
Lord of the Flies
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300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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ASVAB Word Knowledge
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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.
His tone is nothing if not complicit: “I was named Olaudah, which, in our language signifies vicissitude or fortune; also one favoured, and having a loud voice and well-spoken.”
From The Guardian ● Aug. 7, 2017
I was named Olaudah, which, in our language, signifies vicissitude or fortune also, one favoured, and having a loud voice and well spoken.
From Slate ● Jun. 3, 2015
It calls for poise, concentration, vitality and, above all, for a kind of instinctive communion with the camera that comes partly from inner fiber, partly from vicissitude and long practice.
From Time Magazine Archive
No slave to any vicissitude, his imagination is, on the contrary, the cheerful obstinate tyrant of all that is.
From Modern Essays by Ayres, Harry Morgan
I found the bread poor; the cheese poorer; the beer poorest; yet was content therewith, knowing that vicissitude is good for a man.
From A Month in Yorkshire by White, Walter
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.
