Meanings
plural jeopardies
- uncountableusuallyDanger of failure, harm, or loss.
The poor condition of the vehicle put its occupants in constant jeopardy.
3 more examples
Thus chaunce hath (by exchaunge) the flie ſo trapt, / That ſodainly he loſt his libertee: / The more he wrange, the faſter was he wrapt [in the spider's web] / And all to thencreaſe of his ieoberdee, […]
1556, John Heywood, “The Introduction to the Matter, Showing howe the Flie Chaunced to Fall into the Spiders Copweb”, in The Spider and the Flie. […], London: […] Tho[mas] Powell, →OCLC; republished as A[dolphus] W[illiam] Ward, editor, The Spider and the Flie. […] (Publications of the Spenser Society, New Series; 6), Manchester: […] [Charles E. Simms] for the Spenser Society, 1894, →OCLC, page 27It seemed to me I could do something in that vein with my characters: the ticking clock, dire jeopardy, quick changes of fortune, small acts having huge consequences.
2006, Paul Chadwick, Concrete: Killer Smile, Introduction, p.4When Obinna was red carded shortly after for a ridiculous kick on Larsson it seemed as though West Ham's hopes of reaching Wembley, and in turn Grant's of keeping his job, lay in serious jeopardy.
2011 January 11, Jonathan Stevenson, “West Ham 2 – 1 Birmingham”, in BBC SportSynonyms: gamble, hazard, peril, risk, adventure, danger, distress, harm's way
present singular third person jeopardies · participle present jeopardying · participle past jeopardied · past jeopardied
- archaictransitiveTo jeopardize; to endanger.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounDanger of failure, harm, or loss.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna source of danger; a possibility of incurring loss or misfortune
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latiniocus“jest, play, game”
- Medieval Latiniocus partītus“an even chance, an alternative”
- Middle Frenchjeu parti“a divided game, i.e. an even game, an even chance”
- Anglo-Normangiu parti
- Middle Englishjupartie
- Englishjeopardy
From Middle English jupartie, jeupartie (“even chance”), from Anglo-Norman giu parti and Middle French jeu parti (“a divided game, i.e. an even game, an even chance”), from Medieval Latin iocus partītus (“an even chance, an alternative”), from Latin iocus (“jest, play, game”) + partītus, perfect passive participle of partiō (“divide”); see joke and party.
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Middle French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian опасност, риск
- опасност (opasnost)danger of failure, harm, or loss
- риск (risk)danger of failure, harm, or loss
Catalan perill, risc
- perilldanger of failure, harm, or loss
- riscdanger of failure, harm, or loss
Chinese Mandarin 風險 /风险, 危險 /危险
- 風險 /风险 (fēngxiǎn)danger of failure, harm, or loss
- 危險 /危险 (wēixiǎn)danger of failure, harm, or loss
Dutch gevaar
- gevaardanger of failure, harm, or loss
Esperanto danĝero
- danĝerodanger of failure, harm, or loss
Finnish vaara
- vaaradanger of failure, harm, or loss
French danger, péril
- dangerdanger of failure, harm, or loss
- périldanger of failure, harm, or loss
- risquedanger of failure, harm, or loss
German Gefahr, Risiko
- Gefahrdanger of failure, harm, or loss
- Risikodanger of failure, harm, or loss
Greek κίνδυνος
- κίνδυνος (kíndynos)danger of failure, harm, or loss
Hindi जोखिम
- जोखिम (jokhim)danger of failure, harm, or loss
Hungarian kockázat, veszély
- kockázatdanger of failure, harm, or loss
- veszélydanger of failure, harm, or loss
Italian pericolo, rischio
- pericolodanger of failure, harm, or loss
- rischiodanger of failure, harm, or loss
Japanese 危険, リスク
- 危険 (kiken)danger of failure, harm, or loss
- リスク (risuku)danger of failure, harm, or loss
Persian خطر
- خطر (xatar)danger of failure, harm, or loss
Portuguese perigo
- perigodanger of failure, harm, or loss
Russian опа́сность, риск
- опа́сность (opásnostʹ)danger of failure, harm, or loss
- риск (risk)danger of failure, harm, or loss
Scottish Gaelic cunnart
- cunnartdanger of failure, harm, or loss
Spanish peligro, riesgo
- peligrodanger of failure, harm, or loss
- riesgodanger of failure, harm, or loss
Swedish fara
- faradanger of failure, harm, or loss
Turkish risk, tehlike
- riskdanger of failure, harm, or loss
- tehlikedanger of failure, harm, or loss
Ukrainian небезпе́ка, ри́зик
- небезпе́ка (nebezpéka)danger of failure, harm, or loss
- ри́зик (rýzyk)danger of failure, harm, or loss
Cite this entry
jeopardy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jeopardy
“jeopardy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jeopardy. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “jeopardy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jeopardy.
Source: jeopardy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.