chancy C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities US /ˈtʃænsi/ UK /ˈtʃɑːnsi/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 adj uncertain in outcome; risky Crossing the river at this depth is a chancy business. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adj · uncertain in outcome; risky riskyuncertainprecariousdiceyhazardousunpredictableiffy ↔ Opposites certainsafesecurereliable Word family Derived forms chancilychanciness Related forms chance Etymology AI details From chance + the adjectival suffix -y. Chance derives from Old French cheance ('a falling, an event'), from Vulgar Latin *cadentia, from Latin cadere ('to fall'). cheance Old French cadere Latin *ḱad- Proto-Indo-European View etymology graph -> Topics Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # chancy **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** adj **IPA (US):** /ˈtʃænsi/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈtʃɑːnsi/ ## Meanings 1. uncertain in outcome; risky ## Examples - Crossing the river at this depth is a chancy business. ## Synonyms - risky - uncertain - precarious - dicey - hazardous - unpredictable - iffy ## Antonyms - certain - safe - secure - reliable ## Derived Forms - chancily - chanciness ## Related Forms - chance ## Roots and Affixes - Root: cheance - Root: cadere - Root: *ḱad- ## Etymology From chance + the adjectival suffix -y. Chance derives from Old French cheance ('a falling, an event'), from Vulgar Latin *cadentia, from Latin cadere ('to fall'). ## AI Etymology Chancy comes from chance + the adjectival suffix -y. Chance derives from Old French cheance ('a falling, an event'), from Vulgar Latin *cadentia, from Latin cadere ('to fall'). The historical trail runs through cheance in Old French, cadere in Latin, and *ḱad- in Proto-Indo-European. Morphologically, chancy is transparent: it draws on chance + the adjectival suffix -y. Used as an adjective, chancy now means "uncertain in outcome; risky", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in derived forms such as chancily and chanciness and related forms such as chance. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English. ## Topics - Describing Qualities - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown