va·gar·y
Audio Help [vuh-gair-ee, vey-guh-ree] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [vuh-gair-ee, vey-guh-ree] Pronunciation Key –noun, plural -gar·ies.
| 1. | an unpredictable or erratic action, occurrence, course, or instance: the vagaries of weather; the vagaries of the economic scene. |
| 2. | a whimsical, wild, or unusual idea, desire, or action. |
[Origin: 1565–75, in sense “wandering journey”; appar. < L vagārī to wander
]
] —Synonyms 2. caprice, whim, quirk, crotchet.
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
vagary
To learn more about vagary visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| va·ga·ry
Audio Help (vā'gə-rē, və-gâr'ē) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. va·ga·ries An extravagant or erratic notion or action. [From Latin vagārī, to wander, from vagus, wandering.] |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
vagary
1577, "a wandering, a roaming journey," probably from L. vagari "to wander, roam, be unsettled, spread abroad" from vagus "roving, wandering" (see vague). Current meaning of "eccentric notion or conduct" (1629) is from notion of mental wandering.
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| vagary | |
noun | |
| an unexpected and inexplicable change in something (in a situation or a person's behavior, etc.); "the vagaries of the weather"; "his wealth fluctuates with the vagaries of the stock market"; "he has dealt with human vagaries for many years" |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
Vagary
Di`va*ga"tion\, n. [L. divagari to wander about; di- = dis- + vagari to stroll about: cf. F. divagation. See Vagary.] A wandering about or going astray; digression. Let us be set down at Queen's Crawley without further divagation. --Thackeray.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
vagary
vagary was Word of the Day on March 24, 2001.
| Dictionary.com Word of the Day |
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