Meanings
nounlottery (plural lotteries)
plural lotteries
- figurativelySomething decided by chance.
It's a bit of a lottery whether we'll get a good table in that diner.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounplayers buy (or are given) chances and prizes are distributed by casting lots
Similar
Broader
game of chancegambling game
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Arabic يَانَصِيب
- يَانَصِيب (yānaṣīb)scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Bengali লটারি
- লটারি (loṭari)scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Bulgarian лота́рия
- лота́рия (lotárija)scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Catalan loteria, loteria
- loteriascheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- loteriasomething decided by chance
Chinese Mandarin 抽獎 /抽奖, 抽彩
- 抽獎 /抽奖 (chōujiǎng)scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- 抽彩 (chōucǎi)scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- 樂透 /乐透 (lètòu)scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Czech loterie
- loteriescheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Danish lotteri
- lotterischeme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Dutch loting, loterij
- lotingscheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- loterijscheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- lottrekkingscheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- loterijsomething decided by chance
Esperanto loterio
- loterioscheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Estonian loterii
- loteriischeme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Finnish arpajaiset, arvonta
- arpajaisetscheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- arvontascheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- arpapelisomething decided by chance
- onnenpelisomething decided by chance
- onnenkauppasomething decided by chance
French loterie
- loteriescheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
German Lotterie
- Lotteriescheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Greek λοταρία
- λοταρία (lotaría)scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Hebrew לוֹטוֹ, הַגְרָלָה
- לוֹטוֹ (lotó)scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- הַגְרָלָה (hagralá)scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Hindi लॉटरी, लाटरी
- लॉटरी (lŏṭrī)scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- लाटरी (lāṭrī)scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Hungarian lottó, lutri
- lottóscheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- lutrisomething decided by chance
Icelandic happdrætti, lottó
- happdrættischeme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- lottóscheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Italian lotteria
- lotteriascheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Japanese くじ, 宝くじ
- くじ (kuji)scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- 宝くじ (takarakuji)scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- 富くじ (tomikuji)scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Korean 복권
- 복권 (bokgwon)scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Latin sortītus, sortītiō
- sortītusscheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- sortītiōscheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Latvian loterija
- loterijascheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Lithuanian loterija
- loterijascheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Malay loteri
- loterischeme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Māori rota
- rotascheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Norwegian Bokmål lotteri, lotteri
- lotterischeme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- lotterisomething decided by chance
Polish loteria, loteria
- loteriascheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- loteriasomething decided by chance
Portuguese lotaria, loteria
- lotariascheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- loteriascheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- lotariasomething decided by chance
Romanian loterie, loto
- loteriescheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- lotoscheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- loteriesomething decided by chance
Russian лотере́я
- лотере́я (lotɛréja)scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Slovak lotéria
- lotériascheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Spanish lotería, lotería
- loteríascheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- loteríasomething decided by chance
Swahili bahati nasibu
- bahati nasibuscheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Swedish lotteri, lotteri
- lotterischeme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- lotterisomething decided by chance
Tagalog loteriya
- loteriyascheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Thai หวย, สลาก
- หวย (hǔai)scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- สลาก (sà-làak)scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
- ลอตเตอรี่ (lɔ́t-dtəə-rîi)scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Turkish piyango
- piyangoscheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Ukrainian лотере́я
- лотере́я (loteréja)scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Urdu لاٹَری
- لاٹَری (lāṭarī)scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Vietnamese xổ số
- xổ sốscheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance
Cite this entry
APA
lottery. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lottery
MLA
“lottery.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lottery. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lottery,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lottery.
Source: lottery on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.