vagary
Unpredictable turn taken
A vagary is an unpredictable change or wandering action, especially one that seems to follow no logical pattern: the vagaries of the stock market, the vagaries of weather.
The word almost always appears in the plural, typically after "the." It suggests capriciousness—forces or circumstances that shift without warning or apparent reason.
Sudden arbitrary desire
- whimsyPlayful, capricious quality
- fancyElaborate or decorative
- quirkPeculiar behavioral trait
- notionImprecise mental impression
impulse · eccentricity · idiosyncrasy · capriciousness · fickleness · flightiness · spontaneity · arbitrariness
State of being unsure
- randomnessLack of predictable pattern
- chanceLikelihood of occurrence
- indeterminacyLack of fixed outcome
- fortuityAccidental lucky occurrence
serendipity · contingency · anomaly · surprise · unexpectedness · ambiguity · incalculable · unforeseeable
Rapid, unpredictable changeability
- instabilityTendency toward unpredictable change
- variabilityTendency to change
- oscillationRepeated back-and-forth movement
- swingSuspended recreational seat
shift · wavering · unsteadiness · irregularity · inconsistency · fitfulness · turbulence · flux
whim
Sudden arbitrary desire
notion · impulse · eccentricity · idiosyncrasy · capriciousness · fickleness · flightiness · spontaneity · arbitrariness · waywardness
uncertainty
State of being unsure
- randomnessLack of predictable pattern
- chanceLikelihood of occurrence
- indeterminacyLack of fixed outcome
fortuity · serendipity · contingency · anomaly · surprise · unexpectedness · ambiguity · incalculable · unforeseeable · aleatory
volatility
Rapid, unpredictable changeability
- instabilityTendency toward unpredictable change
- variabilityTendency to change
- oscillationRepeated back-and-forth movement
swing · shift · wavering · unsteadiness · irregularity · inconsistency · fitfulness · turbulence · flux · ebb
- whimswhim, whimsy, caprice, fancy, impulse
- guessesguess, conjecture, supposition, speculation, surmise
- imaginationimagination, daydreaming, daydreams, fantasies, fantasy
- whimsywhimsy, whim, fairies, caprice, unicorns
- rebellious traitsdefiance, rebellion, stubbornness, disobedience, willfulness
vagaryregularity
Consistent, predictable occurrence
predictability · consistency · constancy · pattern · routine
vagarystability
Resistance to displacement
steadiness · constancy · equilibrium · fixity · permanence
- vagabond lifeHomeless wandering existence