Word of the Day

: July 20, 2023

vagary

noun VAY-guh-ree

What It Means

The word vagary, usually used in its plural form, refers to a change that is difficult to predict or control.

// The vagaries of fashion make it difficult to predict what styles will be popular a year or two from now.

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vagary in Context

“Fans who follow baseball closely, and a good many people who don’t, know that the pitch clock has cut almost half an hour off the average MLB game time this year. … After centuries of surrendering to the vagaries of extra innings and dawdling players, MLB has defeated time in a different way: by strictly controlling it.” — Ben Lindbergh, TheRinger.com, 1 May 2023

Did You Know?

Let’s say, hypothetically, that two roads diverge in a yellow wood. And (also hypothetically) sorry that you cannot travel both, you opt for the grassy one less traveled by. What makes all the difference is the century in which this scenario plays out. In the 16th century, it could be said that you “made a vagary” by wandering off the beaten path. Today you might be said to lead a vagabond lifestyle. Vagabond can be traced to the Latin verb vagārī, meaning “to wander” or “to roam,” and it’s likely that vagary comes from that same source. Nowadays, however, the noun vagary is mostly used in its plural form to refer to changes that are difficult to predict or control; modern vagaries have less to do with wandering, and more to do with unpredictability, such as what one might encounter down a path that lies in leaves no step has trodden black.