1
as in likelihood
the quality or state of being likely to occur
the plot of the movie thriller was exciting and surprising but woefully lacking in probability
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2
as in odds
a measure of how often an event will occur instead of another
the probability of flipping a coin and getting heads 50 times in a row is not good
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Recent Examples of probability
Climate change increases the probability extreme events will layer on top of each other, creating the sorts of unprecedented conditions that caused Los Angeles to burn.
—
Jordan Thomas, Twin Cities, 30 Jan. 2025
The phone numbers were picked at random using a probability proportionate to size method, which means phone numbers are proportionally representative to the number of voters in all regions across the state.
—Rachel Wolf, Fox News, 22 Jan. 2025
For a coin toss with probability of success p, the skewness and kurtosis both go to infinity when the probability of success is very low.
—Vineer Bhansali, Forbes, 23 Jan. 2025
All projections and probabilities are rounded to the nearest whole number.
—Dom Luszczyszyn, The Athletic, 22 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for probability 
Jordan Thomas, Twin Cities, 30 Jan. 2025
The phone numbers were picked at random using a probability proportionate to size method, which means phone numbers are proportionally representative to the number of voters in all regions across the state.
—Rachel Wolf, Fox News, 22 Jan. 2025
For a coin toss with probability of success p, the skewness and kurtosis both go to infinity when the probability of success is very low.
—Vineer Bhansali, Forbes, 23 Jan. 2025
All projections and probabilities are rounded to the nearest whole number.
—Dom Luszczyszyn, The Athletic, 22 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for probability
Thesaurus Entries Near probability
Cite this Entry
“Probability.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/probability. Accessed 9 Feb. 2025.
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