What does "chance" mean?
An opportunity or possibility.
Chance
/t͡ʃæns/ adj, adv, name, noun, verb
adj, adv, name, noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An opportunity or possibility.
- Grammar: chance is listed as adj, adv, name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: encounter, hazard, opportunity, probability.
- Useful contrasts: economic forces, nonrandom, political force.
- Usage evidence: With the heirless king going crazy and royal family poisoned, the general of the army finally had his chance to usurp the throne.
How to use "chance"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "chance" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "chance" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "chance" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "chance" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "chance" is acting as adj, adv, name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "encounter" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "chance", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An opportunity or possibility. countable
"We had the chance to meet the president last week: we have a good/strong chance of making / to make a profit."
- 2 a risk involving danger wordnet
- 3 Random occurrence; luck. uncountable
"Why leave it to chance when a few simple steps will secure the desired outcome?"
- 4 a measure of how likely it is that some event will occur; a number expressing the ratio of favorable cases to the whole number of cases possible wordnet
- 5 The probability of something happening. countable
"There is a 30 percent chance of rain tomorrow."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that causes an event to result one way rather than another wordnet
- 7 probability; possibility. countable, plural, uncountable
"Sometimes the name is changed because it is thought to be unlucky. If "Chua" is ill, the chances are that there are certain spirits who do not like his name, so the parents alter his name to "Mee," or something else, and then he gets well again."
- 8 the possibility of future success wordnet
- 9 What befalls or happens to a person; their lot or fate. archaic, countable
"Wild-visag'd Wanderer! ah for thy heavy chance!"
- 10 a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances wordnet
Verb
- 1 To happen by chance, to occur. archaic, intransitive
"It chanced that I found a solution the very next day."
- 2 come upon, as if by accident; meet with wordnet
- 3 To befall; to happen to. archaic, transitive
"[…] while the King and Godwine sate at the table, accompanied with others of the nobilitie, it chanced the cupbearer (as he brought wine to the bourd) to slip with the one foote, and yet by good strength of his other leg, to recover himselfe without falling […]"
- 4 take a risk in the hope of a favorable outcome wordnet
- 5 To try or risk.
"Shall we carry the umbrella, or chance a rainstorm?"
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 be the case by chance wordnet
- 7 To discover something by chance.
"He chanced upon a kindly stranger who showed him the way."
- 8 To rob, cheat or swindle someone. Belize
"The car broke down a week after I bought it. I was chanced by that fast-talking salesman."
- 9 To take an opportunity from someone; to cut a queue. Nigeria
Adjective
- 1 Happening by chance, casual. not-comparable
"No crowd was about the door; no people were discernible at any of the many windows; not even a chance passer-by was in the street. An unnatural silence and desertion reigned there."
Adjective
- 1 occurring or appearing or singled out by chance wordnet
Adverb
- 1 Perchance; perhaps. not-comparable, obsolete
Proper Noun
- 1 An unincorporated community in Adair County, Kentucky, United States. countable, uncountable
- 2 A census-designated place in Somerset County, Maryland, United States. countable, uncountable
- 3 A census-designated place in Adair County, Oklahoma, United States. countable, uncountable
- 4 An unincorporated community in Perkins County, South Dakota, United States. countable, uncountable
- 5 An unincorporated community in Essex County, Virginia, United States. countable, uncountable
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 A male given name from English, an American pet form of Chauncey, in modern usage also associated with the word chance. countable, uncountable
- 7 A surname. countable, uncountable
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"With the heirless king going crazy and royal family poisoned, the general of the army finally had his chance to usurp the throne."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "chance"?
Common synonyms include: encounter, hazard, opportunity, probability, prospect, a leg up.
How do you use "chance" in a sentence?
With the heirless king going crazy and royal family poisoned, the general of the army finally had his chance to usurp the throne.
How do you pronounce "chance"?
Pronounced /t͡ʃæns/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English chance, cheance, chaunce, cheaunce, a borrowing from Old French cheance (“accident, chance, luck”), from Vulgar Latin *cadentia (“falling”), from Latin cadere (“to fall, to die, to happen, occur”). Doublet of cadence and cadenza.
Etymology 2
From Middle English chancen, chauncen, from the noun (see above).