25 November 2018

vagary

[vuh-gair-ee, vey-guh-ree]

noun, plural vagaries.

1. an unpredictable or erratic action, occurrence, course, or instance:
the vagaries of weather; the vagaries of the economic scene.
2. a whimsical, wild, or unusual idea, desire, or action.

Origin of vagary

Latin

1565-1575, in sense “wandering journey”; apparently < Latin vagārī to wander

Synonyms

2. caprice, whim, quirk, crotchet.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for vagary

Historical Examples

How near they would pass depended on the vagary of the waves and the tide.
Blow The Man Down
Holman Day

The storm still raged, and she thought it was a vagary of the lightning.
Southern Stories
Various

What vagary had sent a girl who looked like this upon such a task!
Before the Dawn
Joseph Alexander Altsheler

If we could civilize our schools, we should have no mention of legislation by vagary.
The Ethics of Medical Homicide and Mutilation
Austin O’Malley

So, Stephen, after a lifetime of vagary and wandering, this is the result.
The Pillar of Light
Louis Tracy

They longed for a vagary into the country, and now they are fitted.
The Works of John Marston
John Marston

Now all the weird fancies of the night had been just a vagary of mind.
Bulldog Carney
W. A. Fraser

He was ready for any illusion, susceptible to any vagary of the imagination.
The World For Sale, Complete
Gilbert Parker

In this particular case, however, Bertram’s vagary of fancy had some excuse.
Miss Billy
Eleanor H. Porter

But such is the vagary of the human mind, that safety was the least of his thoughts.
The Broncho Rider Boys with the Texas Rangers
Frank Fowler

Today’s quote

Question everything. Learn something. Answer nothing.

– Euripides

On this day

5 November 1947 – The ‘Hollywood Ten’ are blacklisted for their allegiance with, or sympathy for the American Communist Party. They were cited for Contempt of Congress when they refused to testify to the House Committee on Unamerican Activities. The Hollywood Ten were unable to work in the movie industry again. The ten were Alvah Bessie, Herbert Biberman, Lester Cole, Edward Dmytryk, Ring Lardner Jr., John Howard Lawson, Albert Maltz, Samuel Ornitz, Adrian Scott and Dalton Trumbo.

25 November 1963 – funeral of assassinated President John F. Kennedy in Washington DC. Over 800,000 people lined the streets. He was interred at Arlington Cemetery.

25 November 2016 – death of Fidel Castro, former Cuban President. Born 13 August 1926.