risk
/ɹɪsk/
risk noun: the probability of a negative outcome to a decision or event.
Noun
risk (countable and uncountable, plural risks)
- The probability of a negative outcome to a decision or event.
- There is risk of being brutalized, arrested, imprisoned and tortured, all because I want you to know the truth about this matter.
- What crop(s) to plant, how much area to devote to each crop, and how much risk to take with respect to rainfall during the season are some of the decisions that must be made.1994, S. I. Bhuiyan, On-farm Reservoir Systems for Rainfed Ricelands, page 36
- The magnitude of possible loss consequent to a decision or event.
- Will they find the prospect of greater risk a cause for concern, rather than a gift from the right?2004 April 23, “American Families at Risk”, in The American Prospect
- The decision was also unlawful in disregarding the prospect of greater risk of sexual or physical abuse to girls at a co-educational residential school2012 December 12, “Hekia Parata will not appeal Salisbury decision”, in Manawatu Standard
- The potential negative effect of an event, determined by multiplying the likelihood of the event occurring with its magnitude should it occur.
- If there is a 25% chance of running over schedule, costing you a $100 out of your own pocket, that might be a risk you are willing to take. But if you have a 5% chance of running overschedule, knowing that there is a $10,000 penalty, you might be less willing to take that risk.2002, Decisioneering Inc website, What is risk? read at http://www.decisioneering.com/risk-analysis.html on 14 May 2006
- A possible adverse event or outcome.
- the imminent and constant risk of assassination, a risk which has shaken very strong nerves1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter VII, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and...
- A thing (from the perspective of how likely or unlikely it is to cause an adverse effect).
- That man is going to be a big risk once he's out of prison.
- Those stairs are a major risk.
- A borrower (such as a mortgage-holder or person with a credit card).
- A good credit rating indicates the customer is a desirable risk.
- A financial product (typically an investment).
- Subprime mortgages are poor risks; especially for a pension scheme.
- An entity insured by an insurer.
Verb
risk (third-person singular simple present risks, present participle risking, simple past and past participle risked)
- To incur risk of (an unwanted or negative outcome).
- These people are putting themselves in danger by physically being on or near to the railway lines and risking serious injury.2006, Transportation Alternatives website, Rail delays as thieves cut power read at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/4972476.stm on 14 May 2006
- To incur risk of harming or jeopardizing.
- England captain David Beckham has warned Wayne Rooney not to risk his long-term future by rushing his return from injury.2006, BBC Sport website, Beckham wary over Rooney comeback read at http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/teams/england/4769433.stm on 14 May 2006
- Synonyms:
- adventure
- To incur risk as a result of (doing something).
- Because of the wide range of styles on this album, it's hard to pin down the genre. I will risk suggesting folk-rock in an effort to be helpful.1979 February 10, Lynn Tibbets, “Women's Music From All Over”, in Gay Community News, volume 6, number 28, page 19
- After coming to New York, I decided to risk cycling again.1999, BBC News website, Volunteer of the Month: Andrew Hay McConnell read at https://web.archive.org/web/20060221081946/http://www.transalt.org/press/magazine/994Summer/12volunteer.html on 14 May 2006
Proper noun capitalized: Risk
Risk (plural Risks)
- A surname.
risk meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
risk in Hindi
- possible, usually negative, outcome
- जोखिम jokhim, ख़तरा xatrā
risk in Tamil
- சூழ் இடர், இடர், மறையிடர், இக்கு, இக்கட்டு
risk in Marathi
- possible, usually negative, outcome
- जोखीम jokhīm, धोका dhokā
risk in Urdu
- possible, usually negative, outcome
- جوکِھم jokhim, مُخاطَرَہ muxātara, خَطْرَہ xatra
More languagesFewer languages
- risk in Bengali
- ঝুঁকি jhũki
- risk in Telugu
- జోక్యము jōkyamu
- risk in Malayalam
- അപായം apāyaṁ
- risk in Kannada
- ಹಾಳ್ದೆರಹು, ಕೇಡ್ತೆರಹು, ತೆತ್ತೆರಹು, ಅಪಾಯ
- risk in Sanskrit
- संदेह saṃdehá, पण् paṇ
- risk in Pashto
- خطر xatár
- risk in Arabic
- مُخَاطَرة muḵāṭara, مُجَازَفَة mujāzafa, خَطَر ḵaṭar, خَاطَرَ ḵāṭara
- risk in Malay
- risiko
- risk in Indonesian
- risiko
- risk in Persian
- به خطر انداختن be xatar andâxtan, خطر کردن xatar kardan, دل به دریا زدن del be daryâ zadan, ریسک کردن
- risk in Thai
- ความเสี่ยง kwaam-sìiang, การเสี่ยง gaan-sìiang, ภัย pai, เสี่ยง sìiang
- risk in Vietnamese
- rủi ro, nguy cơ
- risk in Myanmar
- အန္တရာယ် anta.ray, စွန့်စားခြင်း cwan.ca:hkrang:
Examples of risk in a sentence
- 2006, Trever Ramsey on BBC News website, Exercise 'cuts skin cancer risk' read at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4764535.stm on 14 May 2006
- There was also a "degree of complacency" that the weather in the country was not good enough to present a health risk.2006, BBC News website, Farmers warned over skin cancer read at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4764525.stm on 14 May 2006
Synonyms of risk
Forms of risk
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | risks |
| alternative form (archaic) | risque |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | risks |
| present participle | risking |
| past participle | risked |
| past | risked |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Risks |
Origin of risk
From earlier risque, from Middle French risque, from Old Italian risco (“risk”) (modern Italian rischio) and rischiare (“to run into danger”). Displaced native Old English pleoh (“risk”) and plēon (“to risk”). Speculation on earlier roots Most dictionaries consider the etymology of these Italian terms uncertain, but some suggest they perhaps come from Vulgar Latin *resecum (“that which cuts, rock, crag”) (> Medieval Latin resicu), from Latin resecō (“cut off, loose, curtail”, verb), in the sense of that which is a danger to boating or shipping; or from Ancient Greek ῥιζικόν (rhizikón, “root, radical, hazard”). A few dictionaries express more certainty. Collins says the Italian risco comes from Ancient Greek ῥίζα (rhíza, “cliff”) due to the hazards of sailing along rocky coasts. The American Heritage says it probably comes from Byzantine Greek ῥιζικό, ριζικό (rhizikó, rizikó, “sustenance obtained by a soldier through his own initiative, fortune”), from Arabic رِزْق (rizq, “sustenance, that which God allots”), from Classical Syriac ܪܘܙܝܩܐ ,ܪܙܩܐ (rezqā, rōzīqā, “daily ration”), from Middle Persian [script needed] (rōzīg) (whence Classical Persian روزِی (rōzī)), from Middle Persian...
Words formed from risk
- assigned risk
- assumption of risk
- at any risk
- at one's own risk
- at one's risk
- at risk
- at the risk of
- businessman's risk
- calculated risk
- country risk
- credit risk
- currency risk
- cyberrisk
- derisk
- diversifiable risk
- exchange rate risk
- existential risk
- external risk
- extreme risk law
- extreme risk protection order
- financial risk
- flight risk
- foreign exchange risk
- funding liquidity risk
- FX risk
- georisk
- health risk
- high-risk
- ikigai risk
- inflation risk
- i-risk
- key man risk
- key person risk
- low-risk
- market risk
- multirisk
- non-diversifiable risk
- nondiversifiable risk
- nonrisk
- on risk
- operational risk
- political risk
- prerisk
- residual risk
- risk analysis
- risk appetite
- risk assessment
- risk-assess
- risk-assessed
- risk-averse
- risk aversion
- risk-aversity
- risk capital
- risk creep
- risk equalisation
- risk factor
- riskfree
- risk-free
- riskful
- riskish
Phrases with risk
- risk on
- risk off
- The Risk
- tail risk
- ran a risk
- run a risk
- runs a risk
- take a risk
- took a risk
- ran the risk
- risk premium
- risk profile
37 more phrasesFewer phrases
- risk society
- run the risk
- seismic risk
- taken a risk
- takes a risk
- risk premiums
- risk profiles
- risk universe
- runs the risk
- specific risk
- taking a risk
- Value at Risk
- risk appetites
- risk societies
- risk universes
- running a risk
- suffering risk
- risk management
- risk one's life
- risk one's neck
- risk production
- systematic risk
- risk assessments
- running the risk
- extreme risk laws
- unsystematic risk
- risk life and limb
- risk visualization
- undiversifiable risk
- risk it for the biscuit
- sequence of return risk
- sequence-of-return risk
- risk one's life and limb
- sequence of returns risk
- sequence-of-returns risk
- risk it to get the biscuit
- extreme risk protection orders
Words that rhyme with risk
Questions about risk
- What does risk mean?
- Risk means the probability of a negative outcome to a decision or event.
- What is risk in Hindi?
- Risk in Hindi is जोखिम (jokhim), ख़तरा (xatrā). See Risk meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use risk in a sentence?
- 2006, Trever Ramsey on BBC News website, Exercise 'cuts skin cancer risk' read at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4764535.stm on 14 May 2006
- What part of speech is risk?
- Risk can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce risk?
- Risk is pronounced /ɹɪsk/.
- What is the plural of risk?
- The plural of risk is risks.
Words near risk in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: risk (page history and authors); Risk (page history and authors); risk (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); జోక్యము (Telugu) (page history and authors); അപായം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); risk (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); पण् (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-risk.ogg.
Cite this entry: “risk.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/risk. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.