dicey
30
8.5
- adjective
- /ˈdaɪsi/
- Informal
:
arriesgado
- Driving on icy roads can be dicey if you're not careful.
- get dicey
So that's a little bit of a dicey project.
- So that's a little bit of a dicey project.
- And that's where it gets dicey when the drugs wear off.
- And so it just got really dicey really quickly.
- And you're like, this is going to be dicey.
- And then this is the only part that gets a little dicey.
- And all these Arab nations, all of whom had trouble at home, they all have dicey governments.
- But then because they use civilians, it gets dicey.
- It is a very dicey question, but it you have to respond to it.
- And things start to get very dicey because people need meaning and they'll they'll do just about anything to get it.
- And if you feel like something is not working appropriately, where I draw the line in terms of like trying to treat yourself, because I think that can get dicey.
- Like, it's so dicey sometimes when it it shouldn't be.
Examples
-
Listen, running a ranch is a dicey proposition in the best of times.
-
At two o'clock, the radio said it was getting very dicey, and residents were leaving western Malibu.
Fiction book (1994) -
So you can imagine what a very dicey role that is.
-
And so it just got really dicey really quickly.
-
It's starting to get a little dicey out there.
-
Private security work's always been a bit dicey for me.
-
In the case of East Africa, the question of regional 'power' is a dicey one.
Academic text (2018) -
The answer will depend on how divided Iraq remains and how dicey the security situation becomes.
Academic text (2003) -
If things were dicey at work, they weren't any better on the home front.
Fiction book (1991) -
Nowhere on earth will the Clinton administration face more delicate and dicey choices than on China policy.
Academic text (1993)
Synonyms
∞
1.5
Likely to cause harm or injury
269
3.6
Likely to cause loss, harm, or danger
98
5.2
Likely to cause harm or danger
93
1.1
Likely to cause harm to people or damage to things
77
7.0
Likely to change suddenly and become more dangerous
54
4.4
Likely to cause big loss or danger
47
7.6
In a dangerous, unstable position likely to fall or fail
43
7.5
Full of danger that could cause harm
38
7.1
Unstable ground, water, or weather that can suddenly become dangerous
13
8.2
Likely to be unsafe or untrustworthy
9
7.2
A situation that is dangerous or uncertain until the last moment
3
6.9
Not certain and likely to be risky
1
9.9
Full of danger or likely to cause harm
Likely to involve risk or an uncertain result
Antonyms
How Risky
Surface Forms
Etymology
Dicey comes from dice, the small cubes used in gambling, where the result depends on 'chance', so something dicey feels risky and uncertain.