vagarious means subject to vagaries; erratic. It carries an Arena rating of 1536, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, vagarious ranks #1,665 of 17,128 for Most Whimsical Words, #4,121 of 17,116 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #4,769 of 17,150 for Funniest Words, #5,890 of 17,111 for Most Sublime Words.
vagarious is pronounced /vəˈɡɛəɹi.əs/.
Why “vagarious” is a great word
Given to or characterized by capricious or unpredictable changes. From vagary (meaning 'an erratic, unpredictable, or extravagant manifestation, action, or notion') + the adjective-forming suffix -ous, first attested in 1798. Unlike whimsical (which suggests a playful and charming fickleness) or erratic (which neutrally charts deviation), vagarious implies a nature fundamentally prone to the sudden and inexplicable. It is the flickering path of a will-o'-the-wisp over a night marsh, the jagged course of a lightning bolt across a slate sky, or the abrupt veering of a conversation into strange depths—each a testament to the inherent instability of certain journeys, and the quiet terror of systems that refuse to cohere.
adj
- Subject to vagaries; erratic.
- Tending to wander or roam.
- Capricious.
Words closest in meaning
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