Make Your Point > Archived Issues > VAGARIES

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pronounce VAGARIES: Say it "VAY guh reeze." To hear it, click here. connect this word to others: See if you can recall this close synonym of vagaries: from a Latin word for "turn or change," v___ss__des are life's ups and downs, the unpredictable changes that are inseparable from the human condition. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) definition: Our word "vagaries" came to us through Italian. It traces back to the Latin word vagus, meaning "wandering," so it's cousins with the words "vague," "vagabond," and (possibly) "vagrant." In English, for hundreds of years, a vagary was any rambling journey or wandering exploration, either literally (on foot) or figuratively (in speech or writing, or in behavior or pattern). Because these vagaries seemed to ramble randomly from here to there, the word "vagaries" took on another figurative meaning, the one we use today. Vagaries are whims. In other words, vagaries (of the weather, of fashion, or of the housing market, for instance) are the random, irregular, unpredictable changes that happen naturally. grammatical bits: Part of speech: Plural noun: "the vagaries of our tastes and preferences," "the vagaries of professional sports," "the vagaries of spelling in the seventeenth century (John Gribbin)." Other forms:  We could talk about just one vagary at a time, but we hardly ever do. The adjective is also rare: "vagarious," pronounced "vuh GAIR ee yuss," and the adverb is ultra-rare: "vagariously." And, the nouns for the quality are pretty much obsolete: "vagarity" and "vagation." They've wandered off somewhere into the lexical mists, never to be seen again (except they reappeared right here--vagaries, go figure). how to use it: The common, formal word "vagaries" is like a shrug of the shoulders and a shake of the head. It says, "Yes, indeed, that's how it goes: you never know how it's going to go." Talk about the vagaries of some system, situation, or complex person or group: "the vagaries of the weather," "the vagaries of human impulses," "the vagaries of the stock market," "the vagaries of a celebrity's Twitter posts," "the vagaries of what my seven-year-old considers edible and inedible," "the vagaries of fate." examples: "We are predisposed to see order, pattern, and meaning in the world, and we find randomness, chaos, and meaninglessness unsatisfying... As a consequence, we tend to 'see' order where there is none, and we spot meaningful patterns where only the vagaries of chance are operating."    — Thomas Gilovich, How We Know What Isn't So, 1991 "Justin Bieber has cut his hair... Admittedly, we don't often report on the vagaries of musicians' hairstyles. But this is no ordinary do: Bieber is a boy wonder, the biggest 16-year-old in the world, and for many, he has been defined by his floppy bowl-cut."    — Sean Michaels, The Guardian, 22 February 2011 has this page helped you understand "vagaries"? Awesome, I'm glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. study it: Explain the meaning of "vagaries" without saying "whims" or "caprices." try it out: Think about the sphere whose vagaries currently interest you the most. Maybe your sphere is the economy, the health food market, the do-it-yourself home improvement scene, or the world of Instagram-inspired hairstyles. What are some of the latest vagaries within that sphere? Have you followed those vagaries or dodged them? Are there certain ideas or principles that persist within this sphere, unaffected by any vagaries? Why or why not? If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) before you review, play: Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out. Our game for August is "Heard it in Hamilton." Check out a snippet of lyrics from Hamilton: An American Musical, and see if you can come up with the missing word. You can check your answer by scrolling all the way down.  Try this last one today: HAMILTON:    I have never seen the General so _____.    I have taken over writing all his correspondence.    Congress writes, "George, attack the British forces."    I shoot back, "We have resorted to eating our horses." Definition of the missing word: "sad, hopeless, and depressed." Number of syllables: 3. review this word: 1. A near opposite of VAGARIES is A. DETAILS or SPECIFICS. B. CONTENTS or FILLINGS. C. CONSTANTS or PERPETUITIES. 2. In the aptly titled game Vagary, players accumulate items and skills _____. A. slowly, once every ten turns or more B. randomly, drawn from a stack of cards C. without effort, as the first step of each turn Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. B Answer to the game question: despondent. a final word: I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.