CHANCY Synonyms: 71 Similar and Opposite Words

chancy

adjective

Definition of chancy

as in chance

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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 Steve Jobs was making what was at the time an extraordinarily chancy wager. — Edward C. Baig, USA TODAY, 23 June 2017 Lifelong recommendations based on studies of roughly 50 patients and for no longer than three months seem a bit chancy. — WSJ, 13 Sep. 2018 Actions that seemed foolhardy when Rue was younger now come off as merely chancy, with Zendaya imparting enough hard-knock experience to pull off bigger swings. — Carla Meyer, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 Apr. 2026 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 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 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for chancy

Adjective

There’s something fortuitous about a bird of prey being the first one tracked by the Orlando location.

— Patrick Connolly, The Orlando Sentinel, 12 June 2026
There was a fortuitous incident in high school that substantially upgraded Becerra’s higher education and undoubtedly his career.

— George Skelton, Mercury News, 10 June 2026

Definition of fortuitous

Adjective

Promising young filmmakers, having cobbled together haphazard budgets for an Easy Rider or Bonnie and Clyde couldn’t find coherent support for new ideas.

— Peter Bart, Deadline, 25 June 2026
In the early 2000s, especially, Ashley favored haphazard updos, with layers falling from the sides, as seen at the spring 2005 Marc Jacobs show in New York.

— Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 12 June 2026

Definition of haphazard

Adjective

American Express relies on airlines to submit the correct information on airline transactions to identify incidental fee purchases.

— Jason Stauffer, CNBC, 6 July 2026
There are certainly questions both about the final decision reached by match referee Rafael Claus in sending off Balogun for his incidental-looking stamp on Tarik Muharemović’s ankle, and the mechanisms used to reach it.

— Ian Nicholas Quillen, Forbes.com, 5 July 2026

Definition of incidental

Adjective

No one won the Powerball jackpot or the $2 million Match 5 + Power Play prize, but one lucky person in California won the $1 million Match 5 prize.

— Fernando Cervantes Jr, USA Today, 2 July 2026
Whereas John Wooden or Dean Smith may have figured out how to make it today, Bob Knight would be lucky to keep a job as a gym teacher at a middle school in Homeless, Ohio.

— Mac Engel June 29, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 June 2026