different between vagary vs irregularity

English

Etymology

From Latin vagus (“wandering”).

Pronunciation

• (General American, formerly) IPA^(key): /v?????i/
• (General American, now commonly) IPA^(key): /?ve????i/

Noun

vagary (plural vagaries)

1. An erratic, unpredictable occurrence or action.
   • 1871, Charles Kingsley, At Last: A Christmas In The West Indies, ch. 8:

     It now turns out that the Pitch Lake, like most other things, owes its appearance on the surface to no convulsion or vagary at all, but to a most slow, orderly, and respectable process of nature, by which buried vegetable matter, which would have become peat, and finally brown coal, in a temperate climate, becomes, under the hot tropic soil, asphalt and oil.
2. An impulsive or illogical desire; a caprice or whim.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:whim

   • 1905, Jack London, War of the Classes, Preface:

     And then came the day when my socialism grew respectable,—still a vagary of youth, it was held, but romantically respectable.

Derived terms

• vagarity
• vagarious

Related terms

• vague
• vagrant
• vagabond

Translations

See also

• vaguery

Anagrams

• Varyag

English

Etymology

From Middle French irrégularité, from Medieval Latin irregularitas

Morphologically irregular +? -ity

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?.?r?.?j?.?læ.r?.ti/

Noun

irregularity (countable and uncountable, plural irregularities)

1. (countable) An instance of being irregular.
2. (uncountable) The state or condition of being irregular, or the extent to which something is irregular.
3. (countable) An object or event that is not regular or ordinary.

   an irregularity of surface

4. (countable) A violation of rules.

   An investigation of the irregularities in the company's accounts uncovered a large-scale fraud.

5. (euphemistic) Irregular bowel movement (e.g. diarrhea or constipation).

Synonyms

• (state of being irregular): See also Thesaurus:nonuniformity

Antonyms

• regularity

Related terms

• irregular

Translations