Probability Terminology

noun chance is a noun that refers to a possibility of something happening without planning or design.

adverb by chance is an adverb because it modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb by indicating that something happened unexpectedly or without planning.

preposition by is a preposition that shows the relationship between 'chance' and the action being described.

• By chance, I happened to run into my old college professor at the conference.
• I saw my ex-girlfriend at the mall by chance.
• I found this cool vintage jacket at the thrift store by chance.
• By chance, the two rival gangs ended up sitting at the same table and surprisingly got along.

noun a possibility of something happening

verb to risk or take the opportunity to do something

• There is a chance of rain later this evening.
• Hey, do you want to take a chance and try that new restaurant?
• I think we should give it a shot and see if we get lucky.
• Life is full of chances, we just have to be willing to take them.

noun a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection

adjective coincidental

• The similarity in their findings was dismissed as mere coincidence by the researchers.
• What a coincidence running into you at the grocery store!
• No way, that's such a crazy coincidence!
• Their paths crossing again was no mere coincidence, but fate at work.

noun flip of a coin - the specific act of tossing a coin to make a decision

• The outcome of the negotiation was decided by the flip of a coin.
• We'll let fate decide with a flip of a coin.
• Let's leave it up to chance and do a coin flip.
• Making a decision felt like a flip of a coin, with no clear answer in sight.

noun the state or fact of something being likely; probability

adjective likely to happen; probable

• The likelihood of success is high if we stick to the plan.
• There's a good chance we'll win if we play our cards right.
• The odds are in our favor to come out on top.
• The likelihood of finding a needle in a haystack is slim.

adjective describes the likelihood of something happening

preposition introduces a phrase indicating the probability of an action or event

• The new regulations are likely to have a significant impact on the economy.
• I think she's likely to be late to the meeting again.
• He's likely to bail on us tonight, he always does.
• Her words were likely to cut deep, given the sensitive nature of the topic.

adjective likely to happen or be true; plausible

• Based on the evidence provided, it is probable that the company will meet its quarterly targets.
• It's probably going to rain later, so you might want to bring an umbrella.
• There's a high chance that we'll get caught if we sneak out, so it's probably not a good idea.
• In the game of chess, it is probable that sacrificing a pawn early on will lead to a strategic advantage later.

noun a person, place, thing, or idea

adjective describes a noun or pronoun

• There is only a small chance of success without proper planning.
• I have a small chance of getting tickets to the concert, but I'll try anyway.
• There's a small chance we'll get caught, so let's just go for it.
• In the vast ocean of possibilities, there's only a small chance of finding true love.

noun the state or quality of being unlikely or improbable

• The unlikelihood of success in this venture is quite high due to the current market conditions.
• It's highly unlikely that we'll pull this off with the way things are going.
• The chances of that happening are slim to none, dude.
• The unlikelihood of her forgiving him was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

noun a word that represents a person, place, thing, or idea

verb a word that expresses an action or a state of being

pronoun a word that takes the place of a noun

preposition a word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence

article a word that is used to specify or limit a noun

• What are the chances of this experiment yielding accurate results?
• What are the chances of us getting caught if we sneak out tonight?
• What are the chances we'll score tickets to the concert?
• What are the chances of finding a needle in a haystack?

noun a shortened informal term for 'problems'

• There may be some problems we need to address.
• We should probs get going soon.
• I'm probs gonna bail on that party.
• His attitude is probs the biggest obstacle to his success.