chancy
adjective
chancier; chanciest
1
Scotland
: bringing good luck : auspicious
2
: uncertain in outcome or prospect : risky
chanciness
noun
Examples of chancy in a Sentence
Building your own home is a chancy business.
Opening a new restaurant can be chancy.
Recent Examples on the Web
Lifelong recommendations based on studies of roughly 50 patients and for no longer than three months seem a bit chancy.
—
WSJ, 13 Sep. 2018
The early concerts have had a biting, chancy energy.
—New York Times, 21 June 2018
In a curious twist, Gunderson takes the story in an extremely chancy direction during the show’s final minutes.
—David Lyman, Cincinnati.com, 14 Apr. 2018
George Washington's chancy nighttime retreat from Brooklyn to Manhattan was a kind of Colonial-era Dunkirk.
—Benedict Cosgrove, Smithsonian, 13 Mar. 2017
In the 4500 block of Connecticut Avenue NW, Jeff Lucas watched a driver plow through the brown and turbulent waters in what had momentarily seemed to be a chancy undertaking.
—Martin Weil, Washington Post, 18 Aug. 2017
The point is that reporting on alleged facts that won’t take place for a decade or more in the future is chancy at best.
—Ed Wallace, star-telegram, 14 July 2017
Steve Jobs was making what was at the time an extraordinarily chancy wager.
—Edward C. Baig, USA TODAY, 23 June 2017
Over a driving funk vamp, he and Ronald Bruner work as a percussive unit; each note has heft and precision, but a chancy momentum too.
—Giovanni Russonello, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2017
See More
WSJ, 13 Sep. 2018
The early concerts have had a biting, chancy energy.
—New York Times, 21 June 2018
In a curious twist, Gunderson takes the story in an extremely chancy direction during the show’s final minutes.
—David Lyman, Cincinnati.com, 14 Apr. 2018
George Washington's chancy nighttime retreat from Brooklyn to Manhattan was a kind of Colonial-era Dunkirk.
—Benedict Cosgrove, Smithsonian, 13 Mar. 2017
In the 4500 block of Connecticut Avenue NW, Jeff Lucas watched a driver plow through the brown and turbulent waters in what had momentarily seemed to be a chancy undertaking.
—Martin Weil, Washington Post, 18 Aug. 2017
The point is that reporting on alleged facts that won’t take place for a decade or more in the future is chancy at best.
—Ed Wallace, star-telegram, 14 July 2017
Steve Jobs was making what was at the time an extraordinarily chancy wager.
—Edward C. Baig, USA TODAY, 23 June 2017
Over a driving funk vamp, he and Ronald Bruner work as a percussive unit; each note has heft and precision, but a chancy momentum too.
—Giovanni Russonello, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2017
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'chancy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
First Known Use
circa 1522, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Dictionary Entries Near chancy
Cite this Entry
“Chancy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chancy. Accessed 1 Oct. 2023.
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