as in chance
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of chancy
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
George Washington's chancy nighttime retreat from Brooklyn to Manhattan was a kind of Colonial-era Dunkirk.
—Benedict Cosgrove, Smithsonian, 13 Mar. 2017
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
George Washington's chancy nighttime retreat from Brooklyn to Manhattan was a kind of Colonial-era Dunkirk.
—Benedict Cosgrove, Smithsonian, 13 Mar. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chancy
Adjective
-
The new president has promised to be less hawkish than Yoon, and his timing is fortuitous.—
John Delury,
Foreign Affairs,
3 June 2025
-
At the end of a long shift, at the end of a long Friday night, a game in search of a hero and a Florida Panthers season in need of one final, fortuitous bounce converged on the most likely player of them all.—
Dave Hyde,
Sun Sentinel,
10 May 2025
Adjective
-
Trump’s weaponization of tariffs is haphazard, and so are his punishing sanctions and trade controls, causing not just a few countries to look for other currency systems.—
T. Nelson Thompson,
Baltimore Sun,
3 June 2025
-
Democrats have slammed Musk's approach as haphazard and chaotic.—
Zac Anderson,
USA Today,
1 May 2025
Adjective
-
Avoid long strings of random numbers, special characters or irrelevant details.—
Nick Zviadadze,
Forbes.com,
9 June 2025
-
Previous studies landed on either side of the one coin: the formation was random, or that the animals deliberately took up positions that protected vulnerable animals from attack.—
Bronwyn Thompson,
New Atlas,
7 June 2025
Adjective
-
The trauma Miami Dolphins fans experience isn’t accidental.—
Omar Kelly,
Miami Herald,
6 June 2025
-
The difference in these teams after this opening act — 80 minutes of often great, mostly white-knuckled hockey — was an accidental flip of the puck out of play for a two-minute penalty near the end of overtime.—
Dave Hyde,
Sun Sentinel,
5 June 2025
Adjective
-
These inadvertent discriminatory outputs could lead to serious legal and compliance issues and infringe on the privacy rights of individuals.—
Forbes.com,
Forbes.com,
2 June 2025
-
There are new economic factors at play that may have the inadvertent effect of slowing fast fashion and overconsumption, which would ultimately reduce industry emissions.—
Karen Dougherty,
The Orlando Sentinel,
30 May 2025
Adjective
-
The reference to the town of Thebe in Briseis’ story isn’t incidental.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 June 2025
-
After Kayley’s death, Children’s Health Defense pivoted to a frame that the group had sharpened during previous outbreaks and perfected with Covid: that Kayley had died with measles, not from it; that the virus was incidental and some other ailment or failure had killed her.—
Brandy Zadrozny,
NBC news,
4 June 2025
Adjective
-
Karen Read's lucky charm may be a plow driver who saw nothing during multiple passes by the address where she is accused of leaving her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe, to die on the ground in a blizzard in January 2022.—
Michael Ruiz,
FOXNews.com,
5 June 2025
-
Before then, a lucky lottery ticket holder in Illinois took home a $344 million jackpot on March 25, while another lucky person hit the Mega Millions jackpot on Jan. 17 for $113 million.—
Fernando Cervantes Jr,
USA Today,
5 June 2025
Adjective
-
Each sprint is loaded with work for the team and a dedicated buffer to allow for any unplanned work, such as critical bugs, etc. Security teams can make great strides in their journey to accomplish more work and move to a proactive state by following similar principles.—
Daniel DeCloss,
Forbes.com,
5 June 2025
-
But one of her plane’s engines caught fire, which occasioned an unplanned overnight stay (and the purchase of a new fire extinguisher).—
Laurie Gwen Shapiro,
New Yorker,
2 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Chancy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chancy. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share