variants or less commonly flukey
flukier; flukiest
1
: happening by or depending on chance
2
: being unsteady or uncertain
used especially of wind

Examples of fluky in a Sentence

a fluky coincidence that kept me safely at home when the blizzard hit the fluky selection of consecutive numbers on consecutive days of the lottery
Recent Examples on the Web But a fluky political moment had created the chance for something radical in New York. Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024 The fluky sequence occurred when a shot from Golden Knights winger Jonathan Marchessault glanced off Faber’s stick, fluttered into the air and landed behind Gustavsson to make it 1-0. Dane Mizutani, Twin Cities, 13 Feb. 2024 The hockeies could be said to resemble fluky businesses. Jay Pilgreen, Kansas City Star, 12 Feb. 2024 There the trillions begin to feel nature’s winnow: an ocean current is a fluky thing, and it cannot always be relied on to carry a cod egg where a young cod wants to be. Robert Kunzig, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019 One was against Argentina and Lionel Messi at the height of his powers, the other a fluky loss to Canada in the 2000 Gold Cup. Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 June 2023 The serious injuries to Altuve and Diaz are random and fluky things that could happen in games. Larry Fleisher, Forbes, 22 Mar. 2023 Barring another fluky playoff outcome, could be another Lombardi Gras in the offing ... *Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-6): QB Tom Brady's arrival has made them the league's unexpected darlings, ones boasting a franchise-record five games in prime time. Nate Davis, USA TODAY, 14 May 2020 Less than a month after getting hurt – on a fluky play that also saw fellow lineman Bryson Cain go down – McCauley represented his school in the Territorial Cup. Michael Lev, azcentral, 6 Mar. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fluky.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1867, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of fluky was in 1867

Dictionary Entries Near fluky

Cite this Entry

“Fluky.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fluky. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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