chancy

See also: Chancy

English

Etymology

From chance + -y.

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ænsi

Adjective

chancy (comparative chancier, superlative chanciest)

  1. Uncertain; risky; hazardous.
    • 1960 April, G. F. Fiennes, “Unpunctuality - the cause and the cure”, in Trains Illustrated, page 244:
      In winter steam contributes a fairly high proportion of its tractive effort, say 15 per cent, to heating the train. Diesels have at the moment separate oil-fired boilers which are somewhat chancy affairs, and only electric locomotives grab unlimited power for heating which does not affect their punctuality.
    • 1984, Ric Ocasek, “You Might Think”, in Heartbeat City, performed by The Cars:
      You might think it's foolish / This chancy rendezvous / (You might think) You might think I'm crazy / (All I want) All I want is you
  2. Subject to chance; random.
  3. (dated, colloquial) Lucky; bringing good luck.

Synonyms

Translations

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