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calculated risk
noun
- a chance of failure, the probability of which is estimated before some action is undertaken.
Idioms and Phrases
A chance taken after careful estimation of the probable outcome, as in Taking their dispute to arbitration was definitely a calculated risk . This term uses calculated in the sense of “planned with forethought,†a usage from the mid-1800s. Its pairing with risk dates from World War II, when the chances for losing bombers were taken into account before a bombing mission was sent out. After the war the term was transferred to other undertakings where taking a chance to succeed had to be weighed against the costs of failure.Example Sentences
England have really talented, skilful individuals and I would like to see them take a bit more calculated risk.
They also blamed the city and utility for taking “a known, calculated risk†that private property would be damaged and destroyed by fire.
“O’Grady has stated that art ‘is the primary discipline where an exercise of calculated risk can regularly turn up what you had not been looking for,’†the biography on her website says.
If Midgley is right, then Sir Jacob could be patting himself on the back as his "calculated risk" pays off.
For the brand, the move was a calculated risk — and one they aren’t turning away from despite the divided viewer response.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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