vagary
pronunciation
How to pronounce vagary in British English:
UK ['veɪgərɪ]
How to pronounce vagary in American English:
US [ˈveɡəri, vəˈɡɛri]
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- Noun:
- an unexpected and inexplicable change in something (in a situation or a person's behavior, etc.)
Word Origin
- vagary (n.)
- 1570s, "a wandering, a roaming journey," from Italian vagare or directly from Latin vagari "to wander, stroll about, roam, be unsettled, spread abroad," from vagus "roving, wandering" (see vague). The infinitive appears to have been adopted in English as a noun and conformed to nouns in -ary, "but this can hardly be explained except as an orig. university use" [Century Dictionary]. Current meaning of "eccentric notion or conduct" (1620s) is from notion of mental wandering. Related: Vagaries.
Example
- 1. Is the current food crisis just another market vagary ?
- 2. For without the light of reason and science to guide the way , the human spirit of imagination is ruthlessly haunted by ungrateful mystics peddling vagary , demanding that that vagary be taken seriously .