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 risky uncertain precariousdiceyhazardous unpredictable iffy

Opposites

certain safe secure reliable

Word family

Derived forms chancilychanciness

Related forms chance

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').

cheance Old French cadere Latin *ḱad- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# 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

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