as in chance
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Recent Examples of chancy
Most storms occur in the summer months when the subtropical climate is at its most humid, making August’s Perseid meteor shower a chancier time to visit.
—
Sheeka Sanahori, Outside, 11 Nov. 2025
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
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
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This was fortuitous as around that same time, Rollins was laid off unexpectedly.—
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There’s some kind of level of the unexpected or the surprise or the fortuitous, that sort of mimics what to me, life is like.—
Adjective
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The rooms Due to the building’s haphazard original layout, no two of the 14 bedrooms are the same.—
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The state auditor found that money was poorly tracked thanks to a haphazard, spend-first, ask-questions-later approach from the governor’s office.—
Adjective
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Even more striking, the gas moved in a very orderly and coherent way, with far less random motion than the surrounding stars.—
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Not random or easily forgotten.—
Adjective
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Elvyn Yohel Ramos Routt County Investigators also said Ramos filed an insurance claim reporting the fire as accidental.—
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In another show, with a lesser writer, such incongruities could be read as character inconsistencies, accidental oversights, mistakes.—
Adjective
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Chaston Ditta threw two second-half touchdown passes, and East Carolina overcame an inadvertent whistle that negated a long touchdown in a 23-17 victory over Pittsburgh in the Military Bowl on Saturday.—
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But such inadvertent collaboration with an authoritarian administration can have a devastating impact on civic and opposition groups as they are simultaneously targeted by the government and shunned by erstwhile supporters.—
Adjective
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That’s not incidental—that’s intentional.—
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The emotional and financial toll she has been forced to shoulder is not incidental.—
Adjective
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Chevron Knitted Chunky Throw Blanket Give the gift of warmth with this ultra-soft chunky throw blanket that’ll wrap the lucky recipient in a luxurious cocoon.—
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The usual Saturday full of big money Florida Lottery draw games — Cash4Life, Florida Lotto, Fantasy 5, Powerball — came up lucky in a major way for only one player and on the day’s first draw.—
Adjective
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Hall estimates her family spent thousands of extra dollars during their unplanned extended stay.—
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The limited series follows the life of President James Garfield (Michael Shannon), including his unplanned bid for presidency, his brief time as the 20th president of the United States and his assassination at the hands of Charles Guiteau (Matthew Macfadyen).—
Cite this Entry
“Chancy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chancy. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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