vagary
English
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin vagus (“wandering”).
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GenAm" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /vəˈɡɛɹi/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GenAm" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈveɪɡəɹi/
Audio (US): (file)
Noun
vagary (plural vagaries)
- An erratic, unpredictable occurrence or action.
- 1871, Charles Kingsley, At Last: A Christmas In The West Indies, ch. 8:
- It now turns out that the Pitch Lake, like most other things, owes its appearance on the surface to no convulsion or vagary at all, but to a most slow, orderly, and respectable process of nature, by which buried vegetable matter, which would have become peat, and finally brown coal, in a temperate climate, becomes, under the hot tropic soil, asphalt and oil.
- 1871, Charles Kingsley, At Last: A Christmas In The West Indies, ch. 8:
- An impulsive or illogical desire; a caprice or whim.
- 1905, Jack London, War of the Classes, Preface:
- And then came the day when my socialism grew respectable,—still a vagary of youth, it was held, but romantically respectable.
- 1905, Jack London, War of the Classes, Preface:
Synonyms
- (impulsive or illogical desire): see Thesaurus:whim
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
An erratic, unpredictable occurrence or action
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An impulsive or illogical desire; a caprice
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