Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An unpredictable development or change of circumstances.
  • noun An extravagant or erratic notion or action.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To gad; range.
  • noun A wandering or strolling.
  • noun A wandering of the thoughts; a wild freak; a whim; a whimsical purpose.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete A wandering or strolling.
  • noun Hence, a wandering of the thoughts; a wild or fanciful freak; a whim; a whimsical purpose.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An erratic notion or action.
  • noun An impulsive or illogical desire; a caprice.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an unexpected and inexplicable change in something (in a situation or a person's behavior, etc.)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Latin vagārī, to wander, from vagus, wandering.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin vagus ("wandering").

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Examples

  • He can call them “simple” tests, but this kind of vagary is far from simple to implement into a budget.

    2009 January 18 « Unambiguously Ambidextrous 2009

  • He can call them “simple” tests, but this kind of vagary is far from simple to implement into a budget.

    Michael Ignatieff Takes That Paintbrush Into The Corner « Unambiguously Ambidextrous 2009

  • Nobody seems interested in destroying, once and for all, the vicious circle in which this "vagary" of international fraud entraps us.

    January 2006 2006

  • For there is no such thing as a naturally occurring "vagary" that we cannot tackle effectively with the fund of techniques to which all societies and all generations have contributed.

    January 2006 2006

  • Given the perpetual fear/reward roller coaster of his world, Cheswick has committed his real but misguided passion to a fight which, by virtue of its vagary and volatility, can only end in his defeat.

    Steven Weber: Tea Party in a Cuckoo's Nest Steven Weber 2010

  • His surname changes to Peyten and then Peyton, which is the vagary of the census-taker, not John.

    John 2010

  • Given the perpetual fear/reward roller coaster of his world, Cheswick has committed his real but misguided passion to a fight which, by virtue of its vagary and volatility, can only end in his defeat.

    Steven Weber: Tea Party in a Cuckoo's Nest Steven Weber 2010

  • His surname changes to Peyten and then Peyton, which is the vagary of the census-taker, not John.

    Archive 2010-06-01 2010

  • Given the perpetual fear/reward roller coaster of his world, Cheswick has committed his real but misguided passion to a fight which, by virtue of its vagary and volatility, can only end in his defeat.

    Steven Weber: Tea Party in a Cuckoo's Nest Steven Weber 2010

  • Given the perpetual fear/reward roller coaster of his world, Cheswick has committed his real but misguided passion to a fight which, by virtue of its vagary and volatility, can only end in his defeat.

    Steven Weber: Tea Party in a Cuckoo's Nest Steven Weber 2010

Comments

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  • Strange happening:Economists don't understand all the vagaries of the stock market. (newbury house dic.)

    October 30, 2010

  • Vagary (verb) means "to wander or roam" (Oxford English Dictionary).

    July 12, 2011