Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Risk |
RiskNoun1. A source of danger; "drinking alcohol is a health hazard". 2. A venture undertaken without regard to possible loss or injury; "he saw the rewards but not the risks of crime"; "there was a danger he would do the wrong thing". Verb1. Expose to a chance of loss or damage; "We risked losing a lot of money in this venture"; "Why risk your life?". 2. Take a risk in the hope of a favorable outcome; "When you buy these stocks you are gambling". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "risk" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1200. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Economics | The chance, susceptible to the laws of probability, of an adverse situation arising. Source: European Union. (references) |
Environment | Risk to aquatic species if anticipated pesticide residue levels equal one-fifth of LD10 or one-tenth of LC50; risk to terrestrial species if anticipated pesticide residue levels equal one-fifth of LC10 or one-tenth of LC50. (Adverse for Endangered Species). (references) |
| A measure of the probability that damage to life, health, property, and/or the environment will occur as a result of a given hazard. (references) | |
Federal Student Aid | Risk is the possibility of harm or loss to any software, information, hardware, administrative, physical, communications, or personnel resource within an automated information system or activity. (references) |
Finance | The possibility that an investment's actual return will be different than expected; includes the possibility of losing some or all of the original investment. Source: European Union. (references) |
| The probability of loss, or the degree of uncertainty of being repaid, associated with loaning or investing funds. (references) | |
Health | The probability that something will cause injury or harm. (references) |
Medicine | A multiattribute quantity expressing hazard, danger or chance of harmful or injurious consequences associated with actual or potential exposures. It relates to quantities such as the probability that specific deleterious consequences may arise and the magnitude and character of such consequences. Source: European Union. (references) |
Public Administration | The expected number of lives lost, persons injured, damage to property and disruption of economic activity due to a particular natural phenomenon, and consequently the product of specific risks and elements at risk; -UNDRO. Source: European Union. (references) |
| The probability and extent of damage due to a particular hazard. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Risk is the potential future harm that may arise from some present action. It is often combined or confused with the probability of an event which is seen as undesirable. Usually the probability and some assessment of expected harms must be combined into a believable scenario combining risk, regret and reward probabilities into expected value. There are many informal methods which are used to assess (or to "measure" although it is not usually possible to directly measure) risk, and (for some applications) formal methods such as value at risk.
Risk is different from threat
In scenario analysis "risk" is distinct from "threat." "Threat" refers to a very low-probability but high-impact event - which cannot typically be assigned a probability in a risk assessment because it has never occurred, and for which no effective preventive measure is available. The difference is most clearly illustrated by the precautionary principle which seeks to reduce threat by requiring it to be reduced to a set of well-defined risks before an action, project, innovation or experiment is allowed to proceed.
A more specific example is the preparedness of the United States of America prior to the devastating attack on September 11th, 2001. Although the Central Intelligence Agency had often warned of a "clear and present danger" of using planes as weapons, this was considered a threat not a risk. Accordingly, no comprehensive scenarios of probabilities and counter-measures were ever prepared for the type of attack that occurred. In general, a threat cannot be characterized as a risk without at least one specific incident wherein the threat can be said to have "realized". From that point, there it at least some basis to characterize a probability, e.g. "in the entire history of air travel, X flights have led to 1 incident of..."
Professions and Governments manage Risk
Means of measuring and assessing risk vary widely across different professions-- indeed means of doing so may define different professions, e.g. a doctor manages medical risk, a civil engineer manages risk of structural failure, etc.
A professional code of ethics is usually focused on risk assessment and mitigation (by the professional on behalf of client, public, society or life in general).
Some theorists of political science, notably Carol Moore and Jane Jacobs, emphasize that smaller political units and careful separation of the roles of regulator and trader can improve professional ethics and subordinate them to uniform risk limits that would apply to a particular locale, e.g. an entire urban area.
The political ideal of bioregional democracy arose in part in response to these ideals, and problems of professional jargons and associations alienating power from real people living in real places.
"A profession by definition is in a conflict of interest with respect to the risk passed on to its clients." - Steven Rapaport.
Risk as Regret?
Risk has no one definition, but some theorists, notably Ron Dembo, have defined quite general methods to assess risk as an expected after-the-fact level of regret. Such methods have been uniquely successful in limiting interest rate risk in financial markets. Financial markets are considered to be a proving ground for general methods of risk assessment.
However, these methods are also hard to understand. The mathematical difficulties interfere with other social goods such as disclosure, valuation and transparency.
In particular, it is often difficult to tell if such financial instruments are "hedging" (decreasing measurable risk by giving up certain windfall gains) or "gambling" (increasing measurable risk and exposing the investor to catastrophic loss in pursuit of very high windfalls that increase expected value).
As regret measures rarely reflect actual human risk-aversion, it is difficult to determine if the outcomes of such transactions will be satisfactory.
In financial markets one may needs to measure credit risk, information timing and source risk, probability model risk, and legal risk if there are regulatory or civil actions taken as a result of some "investor's regret".
Tough Choices
Financial markets illustrate a more general problem in defining and assessing risk-- the ways that different types of risk combine.
In can be hard to see how the relative risks from different sources should affect one's decisions. For example, when treating a disease a doctor might have the choice of either using a drug that had a high probablility of causing minor side effects, or carrying out an operation with a low probability of causing very severe damage.
According to the regret theory, the only way to resolve such dilemmas might be to find out more about the patient's life and ambitions. If, for instance, the patient's greatest desire centered on raising children, one might prefer the drug even if it limited their mobility or physical capacity somewhat. However, if the patient has already risked their own life several times in extreme sporting events, the decision to do so one more time and recover full capacities may be far preferable.
This highlights a major problem in professional ethics: knowing when the cognitive bias of the professional versus the client (or "patient") must dominate, and what choices each is best able to make.
Framing
Framing is a fundamental problem with all forms of risk assessment. The above examples: body, threat, price of life, professional ethics and regret show that the risk adjustor or assessor often faces serious conflict of interest, The assessor also faces cognitive bias and cultural bias, and cannot always be trusted to avoid all moral hazards. This represents a risk in itself, which grows as the assessor is less like the client.
For instance, an extremely disturbing event that all participants wish not to happen again may be ignored in analysis despite the fact it has occurred and has a nonzero probability. Or, an event that everyone agrees is inevitable may be ruled out of analysis due to greed or an unwillingness to admit that it is believed to be inevitable.
These human tendencies to error and wishful thinking often affect even the most rigorous applications of the scientific method and are a major concern of the philosophy of science.
But all decision-making under uncertainty must consider cognitive bias, cultural bias, and notational bias: No group of people assessing risk is immune to "groupthink": acceptance of obviously-wrong answers simply because it is socially painful to disagree.
One effective way to solve framing problems in risk assessment or measurement (although some argue that risk cannot be measured, only assessed) is to ensure that scenarios, as a strict rule, must include unpopular and perhaps unbelievable (to the group) high-impact low-probability "threat" and/or "vision" events.
This permits participants in risk assessment to raise others' fears or personal ideals by way of completeness, without others concluding that they have done so for any reason other than satisfying this formal requirement.
For example, an intelligence analyst with a scenario for an attack by hijacking might have been able to insert mitigation for this threat into the U.S. budget. It would be admitted as a formal risk with a nominal low probability. This would permit coping with threats even though the threats were dismissed by the analyst's superiors.
Even small investments in diligence on this matter might have disrupted or prevented the attack-- or at least "hedged" against the risk that an Administration might be mistaken.
Insurance
Although military decision making tends to dominate risk theory, its most sophisticated daily practice is in the insurance industry,
The insurers have well-defined roles of actuary, underwriter, agent, auditor and adjustor. Each of these is an assessor in somewhat different circumstances or stages of the insuring, reinsuring, adjustment, recovery and claims payment processes.
Military leads Insurance leads Finance leads Government
In very broad terms, military and insurance decision making is quite a bit more formal and sophisticated than equivalent processes in financial markets - the regret theory has done much to equalize this by incorporating many common military and insurance practices, and putting formal trappings on them.
Generally, the military, insurance, financial, and other professional fields must work through methods before they become prevalent in government policy.
Risk assessments with differing ways of determining public concerns are a major concern of political parties. These parties compete to impose these views on foreign policy, the judicial system, law enforcement, and in Legislation.
The techniques flow slowly from one field to the next. To illustrate the long timelines involved, scenario analysis matured during Cold War confrontations between major powers, notably the USA and USSR, but was not widespread in insurance circles until the 1970s when major oil tanker disasters forced a more comprehensive foresight, It entered finance until the 1980s when financial derivatives proliferated. It did not reach most professions in general until the 1990s when personal computers proliferated.
Governments are apparently only now learning to use sophisticated risk methods, most obviously to set standards for environmental regulation, e.g. "pathway analysis" as practiced by the US EPA.
Civilization as Risk Reduction?
"Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them." - Alfred North Whitehead.
If Whitehead is right, then the perfect civilization is the perfect risk reduction algorithm-- capable of warning us long in advance of forseeable problems, and assuring us that surprises were unforseeable in principle.
Unfortunately, this vision of a risk-reducing symbiote or prosthetic for human judgement remains elusive, fragmented, and unlikely to be realized.
Fear as Intuitive Risk Assessment?
For the time being, we must rely on our own fear and hesitation to keep us out of the most profoundly unknown circumstances.
In "The Gift of Fear", Gavin de Becker argues that "True fear is a gift." (from book jacket) "It is a survival signal that sounds only in the presence of danger. Yet unwarranted fear has assumed a power over us that it holds over no other creature on Earth. It need not be this way."
Risk could be said to be the way we collectively measure and share this "true fear" - a fusion of rational doubt, irrational fear, and a set of unquantified biases from our own experience.
The field of behavioral finance focuses on human risk aversion, asymmetric regret, and other ways that human financial behavior varies from what analysts call "rational."
See also Safety engineering, Civil defense
Risk is the name of a popular board game and an album by Megadeth.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Risk."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Risk is a copyrighted board game produced by Parker Brothers, a division of Hasbro. It shares many characteristics with wargames.
As wargames go, Risk is quite simplistic. It makes little attempt to accurately simulate military strategy. But it does convey a vivid sense of how large the world is, of how expensive the logistics of long campaignss can be, and of how good or bad luck can turn the tide at crucial moments of a close-fought military campaign. It conveys the psychology which leads nations to invest so heavily in armies to protect against their rivals.
Continent # of Extra Armies Africa 3 Australia 2 Asia 7 Europe 5 North America 5 South America 2 A common strategy is to secure Australia or South America early in the game and sit back and build up armies, letting the other players kill each other off. Then when the others are at the weakest, strike. Though if more than one player attempts to follow this strategy it can lead to a mutually destructive bloodbath.
Alternate Versions
- Risk 2210: a futuristic version of Risk. It is produced by Avalon Hill, another division of Hasbro.
- Castle Risk can be found on the reverse side of the board of a particular edition of the game. It focuses on Europe only, and each player's goal is to protect their castle from attack.
External Links
- Hasbro's Risk Page
- TEG game
- Complete list of Risk Resources including websites, alternative versions, extensions and computer versions
- Risk FAQ
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Risk (game)."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Risk was released by Capitol Records in 1999.At that time, Megadeth were:
List of tracks:
- Dave Mustaine: vocals and guitar
- Marty Friedman: guitar
- David Ellefson: bass guitars, backing vocals
- Jimmy DeGrasso: drums
See also: Megadeth
- Insomnia
- Prince Of Darkness
- Enter The Arena
- Crush 'Em
- Breadline
- The Doctor Is Calling
- I'll Be There
- Wanderlust
- Ecstasy
- Seven
- Time: The Beginning
- Time: The End
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Risk (Megadeth)."
Synonyms: RiskSynonyms: danger (n), jeopardy (n), peril (n), adventure (v), chance (v), gamble (v), hazard (v), lay on the line (v), put on the line (v), run a risk (v), take a chance (v), take chances (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Danger | Verb: be in danger; Adjective:; be exposed to danger, run into danger, incur danger, encounter danger; Noun: run a risk; lay oneself open to; (liability); lean on a broken reed, trust to a broken reed; feel the ground sliding from under one, have to run for it; have the chances against one, have the odds against one, face long odds; be in deep trouble, be between a rock and a hard place. |
Noun: danger, peril, insecurity, jeopardy, risk, hazard, venture, precariousness, slipperiness; instability; defenselessness; Adjective: exposure; (liability); vulnerability; vulnerable point, heel of Achilles; forlorn hope; (hopelessness). | |
Adventure, risk, hazard, venture, stake, set at hazard; run the gauntlet; (dare); engage in a forlorn hope. | |
Duty | Adverb: with a safe conscience, as in duty, bound, on one's own responsibility, at one's own risk, suo periculo; in foro conscientiae; quamdiu se bene gesserit. |
Intention | Toss up; cast lots, draw lots; leave to chance, trust to chance, leave to the chapter of accidents, trust to the chapter of accidents; tempt fortune; chance it, take one's chance, take a shot at it (attempt); run the risk, run the chance, incur the risk, incur the chance, encounter the risk, encounter the chance; stand the hazard of the die. |
Risk, venture, hazard, stake; ante; lay, lay a wager; make a bet, wager, bet, gamble, game, play for;risk, venture, hazard, stake; ante; lay, lay a wager; make a bet, wager, bet, gamble, game, play for; play at chuck farthing. | |
Resolution | At any rate, at any risk, at any hazard at any price, at any cost, at any sacrifice; at all hazards, at all risks, at all events; a bis ou a blanc; cost what it may; coute; a tort et a travers; once for all; neck or nothing; rain or shine. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I will not risk open war (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers; writing credit: Frances Walsh) And if we don't get a piece of that action, we risk everything we have (The Godfather; writing credit: Francis Coppola and Mario Puzo. Based on the novel by Mario Puzo.) The penalty for provoking their action is too terrible to risk. (The Day the Earth Stood Still; writing credit: Harry Bates; Edmund H. North) But in your position it's a risk. (Blade Runner; writing credit: Philip K. Dick; Hampton Fancher) I'm just saying, this seems like an unnecessary risk considering our objective, sir. (Saving Private Ryan; writing credit: Robert Rodat) | |
Lyrics | Ain't no risk, now, (Biggest Part of Me; performing artist: Ambrosia) You can't shut off the risk and the pain (HUMAN TOUCH; performing artist: Bruce Springsteen) And I can't leave this bed, risk forgetting all that's been (Here With Me; performing artist: Dido) There ain't no risk (LOVE IS IN CONTROL; performing artist: Donna Summer) That would risk his neck for his brother man ("Theme From Shaft"; performing artist: Isaac Hayes) | |
Clever | Without risk, there is no opportunity for gain. (references; author: unknown) To love is to risk getting hurt. Not to risk loving is the greatest risk of all. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Jezdec formule risk (1973) Risk (1970) Calculated Risk (1963) Third Party Risk (1954) Security Risk (1954) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References | |||
Books |
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Periodicals |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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High Tech |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | From an overhead angle, bread, chinese cabbage, strawberry, grapes, brussels sprouts and a leaf garnish are shown on a white patterned table. On a purple napkin above the food, white lettering reads: "Healthy eating may reduce your risk of some kinds of cancer". Shot on 4x5 format. This was used in the 1989 calendar "Eat for Good Health" December 1989. See artwork: PV-19. Credit: Bill Branson (photographer). |  | Shown is an ad of General Mills' cereal Fiber One. The ad states that eating a well balanced high fiber, low fat diet may reduce the risk of certain types of lower digestive tract cancers, and also recommends a diet with 25-30 grams of dietary fiber a day. Credit: Unknown photographer/artist. |
 | Flow chart showing Reclassification of AIDS Cases Ever Classified as Risk Not Identified through 1996, United States. Credit: CDC. |  | Emergency Watershed Program provided for rehabilitation of berm in Washington, Co. built as a result of flash flooding that placed homes at risk of sliding into swollen creek. Credit: Bob Nichols. |
 | Chuck Leinen, NRCS engineer, talks with homeowners in Washington Co following completion of berm rehabilation needed to eliminate risk caused by flash flooding of creek directly behind housing development. Emergency Watershed Program provided the needed s. Credit: Bob Nichols. |  | Riparian area functioning at risk in Klamath County. Credit: Unknown. |
 | Women who smoke during pregnancy place their unborn child at risk. / WHO/American Cancer Society photo. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | Eat Your Iron Rich Foods Take Your Iron Tablets : Don't Risk Your Life And Baby's. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
 | Photograph taken during World War II, showing the Medal of Honor designed by Tiffany & Company that was awarded for First World War Service and discontinued in 1942. The medal was authorized by Congress on 4 February 1919 for presentation in the name of Congress by the President to Naval personnel who shall "in action involving actual conflict with the enemy, distinguish himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty" and without detriment to his mission. Credit: NAVY. |  | A good risk / Herbert Johnson. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |
| "Swim at your own risk!" by Greg Schmigel Commentary: "Swim at your own risk, and other various pool signage. See more of my works at www.27cm.com." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Author | Quotation |
Alexander Smith | Everything is sweetened by risk. |
Chuang Tzu | He who pursues fame at the risk of losing his self in not a scholar. |
Gustave Flaubert | By dint of railing at idiots we run the risk of becoming idiots ourselves. |
Johann Friedrich Von Schiller | To save all we must risk all. |
Maimonides | The risk of a wrong decision is preferable to the terror of indecision. |
Pierre Corneille | To win without risk is to triumph without glory. |
Plutarch | It is part of a good man to do great and noble deeds, though he risk everything. |
Smollett | Who bravely dares must sometimes risk a fall. |
Soren Kierkegaard | During the first period of a man's life, the danger is not to take the risk. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Treaty of Versailles | 1919 | Where the risk had not attached, money paid by way of premium or otherwise shall be recoverable from the insurer. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Emma | Austen, Jane | I am sure, rather than run the risk of hurtingMr |
Scarlet Letter | Hawthorne, Nathaniel | Hester Prynne, nevertheless, the lonely mother of this one child, ran little risk of erring on the side of undue severity |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | At last he took the risk and went out of his room |
The Picture of Dorian Gray | Oscar Wilde | Women try their luck; men risk theirs |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | An increased risk of osteoporosis. (references) | |
Family history is another risk factor. (references) | ||
Gender also plays a role in risk for stroke. (references) | ||
Business | Importers can insure exchange risk with their banks. (references) | |
It provides advisory and risk analysis to its members. (references) | ||
Banks adapt these tenors to the commercial risk of the customer. (references) | ||
Children | Nepal | Poor or nonexistent sanitation in rural areas puts many children at risk from severe and fatal illnesses. (references) |
South Africa | Virginity testing is a violation of the law and exposes women to a potentially higher risk of being raped because of the virginity myth. (references) | |
Zimbabwe | The Parents and Family Support Network, a local NGO, reported that one in three children in the country is at risk of physical or emotional abuse. (references) | |
Civil Liberties | Turkey | Stations that play Kurdish songs not on the limited play list risk temporary bans or closure. (references) |
Lebanon | In view of the risk of prosecution, journalists censor themselves on matters related to Syria. (references) | |
Libya | Professors and teachers who discuss politically sensitive topics face the risk of government reprisal. (references) | |
Economic History | China | Risk must be clearly evaluated. (references) |
Ukraine | Two principal risk factors are involved: commercial and legal. (references) | |
Ukraine | Numerous opportunities in Ukraine carry a significant level of risk. (references) | |
Human Rights | Macedonia | Those beaten offered no resistance and posed no risk to police. (references) |
Benin | Extensive overcrowding and lack of proper sanitation and medical facilities posed a risk to prisoners' health. (references) | |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | Laws in both entities require detentions for persons accused of serious crimes regardless of their risk of flight. (references) | |
Indigenous People | Mexico | In an April 2000 report "The War in Chiapas," CDHFBC asserted that the military was the principal aggressor in cases reported to the Center in 1999. The CDHFBC also concluded that the presence of the military put at risk the human rights to life, physical integrity, liberty, and security of the local inhabitants. (references) |
Political Economy | FINLAND | Workers can refuse dangerous work situations without risk of penalty. (references) |
PANAMA | U.S. exporters have no risk of foreign exchange losses on sales in Panama. (references) | |
Trade | China | Banks can generally be found to take this small risk. (references) |
Kenya | Any other form of payment carries a high level of risk. (references) | |
Nicaragua | Proper use and risk information also should be provided. (references) | |
Travel | Nepal | This risk has stymied both foreign and domestic investment in Nepal. (references) |
Guyana | Security: Travelers should use caution to minimize risk of street crime. (references) | |
Cote D'ivoire | Travelers displaying jewelry and carrying cameras are especially at risk. (references) | |
Women | Guinea | FGM also increases the risk of HIV infection since unsterilized instruments are shared among participants. (references) |
Indonesia | Women working abroad as domestic servants often risk various forms of abuse, exploitation, and other cruel treatment. (references) | |
Marshall Islands | Violence against women outside the family occurs, and women in urban centers risk assault by going out alone after dark. (references) | |
Worker Rights | Dominican Republic | Women 18 to 25 years of age are at the highest risk for being trafficked. (references) |
Saudi Arabia | Workers risk losing employment if they remove themselves from hazardous work conditions. (references) | |
Vietnam | Poor women and teenage girls, especially those from rural areas, are most at risk for being trafficked. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | CURSE, v.t. Energetically to belabor with a verbal slap-stick. This is an operation which in literature, particularly in the drama, is commonly fatal to the victim. Nevertheless, the liability to a cursing is a risk that cuts but a small figure in fixing the rates of life insurance. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Dennis Miller | If you come down too heavily on the side of freedom, you risk handicapping the police, letting criminals run rampant. |
Donald Rumsfeld | This job is complex. It is multidimensional. It is important, because people's lives are at risk. It is challenging. You'd never use the word fun. |
James Cameron | Well, they're calculated risks, but there is definitely a risk component to it. And I like the challenge. I like the technical challenge of doing hard stuff. And this is about as hard as it gets. |
Rush Limbaugh | We are at great risk in a dangerous world. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Thomas Jefferson | 1801-1809 | Occasions oftener arise for the employment of small than of large vessels, and it would lessen risk as well as expense to be authorized to employ them of preference. |
John F. Kennedy | 1961-1963 | We are moving into a period of uncertain risk and great commitment in which both the military and diplomatic possibilities require a Free World force so powerful as to make any aggression clearly futile. |
Lyndon B. Johnson | 1963-1969 | Abroad, as at home, there is also risk in change. |
Gerald Ford | 1974-1977 | The United States would risk the most serious political consequences if the world came to believe that our adversaries have a decisive margin of superiority. |
Jimmy Carter | 1977-1981 | At such times the risk of inaction can be equally great. |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | Three years of steady decline in the value of our annual defense investment have increased the risk of our most basic security interests, jeopardizing earlier hard-won goals. |
Bill Clinton | 1993-2001 | We'll be giving a guarantee, like co-signing a note with good collateral that will cover our risk. |
George W. Bush | 2001-2005 | So long as training camps operate, so long as nations harbor terrorists, freedom is at risk. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Risk" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 88.81% of the time. "Risk" is used about 11,065 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 88.81% | 9,828 | 958 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 8.54% | 945 | 7,678 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 2.43% | 269 | 17,948 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.17% | 19 | 80,337 |
| Noun (common) | 0.05% | 5 | 157,705 |
| Total | 100.00% | 11,065 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "risk" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Risk | Last name | 1,000 | 16,754 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
| Country | Name |
| USA | Health Risk Management, Inc. |
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
Expressions using "risk": abortion risk ♦ Absolute risk ♦ accident risk ♦ actual risk ♦ aggravated risk ♦ an element of risk ♦ at one's own risk ♦ at risk ♦ at the risk of ♦ at the risk of his life ♦ at the risk of one's life ♦ be at risk ♦ calculated risk ♦ collective risk ♦ constructional risk ♦ consumer risk ♦ credit risk ♦ credit risk cover message ♦ default risk ♦ defaulting risk ♦ degree of nuclear risk ♦ diversifiable risk ♦ elements at risk ♦ emergency nuclear risk ♦ equity risk premium ♦ exchange risk cover ♦ external risk ♦ extrapolated risk ♦ fire risk ♦ great risk ♦ high risk ♦ high risk material ♦ high risk road user group ♦ i'll risk it ♦ inflation risk ♦ jumbo risk ♦ lag risk ♦ loss risk ♦ market risk ♦ moderate nuclear risk ♦ multiplicative risk model ♦ negligeable nuclear risk ♦ negligible nuclear risk ♦ negligible risk ♦ observed risk ♦ occupational risk ♦ off risk ♦ particular risk ♦ perceived risk ♦ predicted risk ♦ put at risk ♦ Relative risk ♦ relative risk model ♦ remaining risk ♦ residual risk ♦ Risk Adjustment ♦ risk analysis ♦ risk arbitrage ♦ risk assessment ♦ risk averse ♦ risk aversion ♦ risk capital ♦ risk exposure ♦ risk factor ♦ Risk factors ♦ risk indexes ♦ risk life and limb ♦ Risk Management ♦ risk map ♦ risk of illness ♦ risk of infection ♦ risk of inflation ♦ risk one's hide ♦ risk one's life ♦ risk one's neck ♦ risk patient ♦ risk prevention ♦ risk sharing ♦ risk smb. anger ♦ risk taker ♦ risk taking ♦ run a risk ♦ run the risk ♦ run the risk of ♦ run the risk of doing smth. ♦ sea risk ♦ seasonal risk ♦ security risk ♦ silent risk ♦ simple risk ♦ special risk ♦ speculative risk ♦ systematic risk ♦ systemic risk ♦ take a risk ♦ take the risk ♦ take the risk of ♦ targeted risk assessment ♦ To run a risk ♦ undiversifiable risk ♦ uniformly minimum risk. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "risk": risk-accepting, risk-adjusted, risk-all, risk-assessors, risk-averse, risk-aversion, risk-avoiding, risk-based, risk-bearing, risk-benefit, risk-capital, risk-conscious, risk-decisions, risk-free, risk-graded, risk-led, risk-loving, risk-management, risk-minimisation, risk-minimizing, risk-neutral, risk-neutrality, risk-premium, risk-producing, risk-prone, risk-recognition, risk-related, risk-return, risk-reward, risk-sensitive, risk-sharing, risk-spreading, risk-stratification, risk-taker, risk-takers, risk-taking, Risk-Taking, risk-to-benefit, risk-tolerance. | |
Ending with "risk": at-risk, higher-risk, low-risk, zero-risk. | |
Containing "risk": was-the-risk-exaggerated. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "risk"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | rrezikoj (adventure, chance, endanger, gamble, go off the deep end, imperil, jeopard, jeopardize, oppose, venture), rrezik (chance, danger, distress, fear, hazard, imminence, impendence, jeopardy, menace, peril, riskiness), risk (fate). (various references) | |
Arabic | مغامرة (adventure, adventurousness, enterprise, escapade, flier, flyer, foolhardiness, gamble, hazard, recklessness, riskiness, throw, venture), مخاطرة (endangering, hazard, venture), مجازفة (adventure, adventurousness, endangering, hazard, recklessness, riskiness, temerity, venture), عرضة للخطر (peril), عرض للخطر (endanger, imperil, jeopard, jeopardize, menace, peril), خطر (adventurous, advise, awkward, challenge, come, critical, danger, dangerous, embargo, fear, give smb. notice, hazard, importance, jeopardy, parlous, peril, perilous, poisonous, prohibition, proscription, risky, unhealthy), خاطر (chance, hazard, stake, take the plunge), جازف (adventure, chance, hazard, run a risk, stick out one's neck). (various references) | |
Aymara | irpt'aña (to risk). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | сума на застраховка, решавам се (hazard), рискувам (adventure, chance, dare, gamble, hazard, jeopardize, pawn, stake, take a chance, take a risk, tempt, venture), риск (adventure, cast, chance, gamble, hazard, jeopardy, peril, venture), вид на застраховка, опасност (danger, fear, jeopardy, menace, peril, shoal, threat), застрахован човек (insurant), застрахован имот, излагам се на риск, излагам се на опасност. (various references) | |
Chinese | 风险, 風險 . (various references) | |
Czech | riziko (chance, gamble, hazard, peril, venture), riskovat (chance one's luck, gamble, hazard, live dangerously, put one's head in to lion's mouth, take a chance, venture), nebezpeèí (danger, hazard, jeopardy, menace, peril), dát v sázku (hazard, venture). (various references) | |
Danish | risiko (hazard), riskere (hazard, venture). (various references) | |
Dutch | risico (hazard), op het spel zetten (hazard, venture), kans lopen (hazard, venture). (various references) | |
Esperanto | risko (hazard), riski (hazard, venture). (various references) | |
Faeroese | vága (dare, hazard, venture), váði (hazard). (various references) | |
Farsi | مخاطره (Adventure, Hazard, Jeopardy, Menace, Peril, Venture), گشادبازی (Straddle), خطر (Danger, Hazard, Jeopardy, Peril), احتمال زیان وضرر, ریسک (Venture), بخطرانداختن (Hazard, Imperil). (various references) | |
Finnish | vaarantaa (endanger, hazard, venture), riski (hazard). (various references) | |
French | risque (riskiness, risks), risquer, risquez. (various references) | |
Frisian | risiko (hazard), noedzje (hazard, venture), noed (hazard). (various references) | |
German | Risiko (chance, fear, gamble, hazard, peril, venture), riskieren (chance, gamble, hazard, peril, to risk, venture), Wagnis (hazard, hazardous business, venture), wagen (baby carriage, bus, car, caravan, carriage, cars, cart, coach, dare, dared, durst, hazard, machine, pram, railway carriage, to risk, to take a chance, trolley, trollies, trolly, Van, vehicle, vehicular, venture, waggon, wagon, wain), Gefahr (danger, endangerment, hazard, jeopardy, peril, pitfall, threat). (various references) | |
Greek | ριψοκινδυνεύω (adventure, gamble, jeopardize, take a chance, tempt providence, venture). (various references) | |
Hebrew | להסתכן (adventure, chance, stick out one's neck, take the plunge), לסכן (endanger, imperil, jeopardize, menace, stake, threaten), הסתכנות (jeopardizing), ריזיקו, סכון (danger, endangering, hazard, jeopardy, peril, venture). (various references) | |
Hungarian | kockázat (adventure, bubble, chance, hazard, jeopardy, venture). (various references) | |
Indonesian | resiko (peril). (various references) | |
Italian | rischio (chance, danger, gamble, hazard, jeopardy, riskiness, venture), arrischiare (hazard, venture), rischiare (chance, hazard, hazardize, plunge, stake, venture). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 冒険 (adventure, venture). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | リスク (RISC), ぼうけん (adventure, autopsy, necropsy, venture, watching from afar), あたりはずれ (hit or miss), とする (bet, stake, wager). (various references) | |
Korean | 위험 (Danger, Hazard). (various references) | |
Manx | gaue (danger, distress, jeopardy, peril), cur ayns gaue (compromise, hazard, imperil), cryggil. (various references) | |
Norwegian | risiko (hazard). (various references) | |
Papiamen | riska (hazard, venture), rísiko (hazard). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | iskray.(various references) | |
Portuguese | risco (chance, danger, design, gamble, hazard, jeopardy, peril, scratch, streak, stroke, venture, wildcat), aventurar (adventure, endanger, hazard, venture), arriscar (chance, commit, dare, endanger, hazard, imperil, jeopard, jeopardize, pawn, peril, stick one's neck out, venture). (various references) | |
Romanian | risca (adventure, chance, dare, gamble, go off the deep end, hazard, pawn, stake, take one's chance, venture, wager). (various references) | |
Russian | рисковать риск (adventure), риск (chance, die, flutter, hazard, jeopardy, occupational hazards, peril, throw), отваживаться (dare). (various references) | |
Scottish | cunnart (danger, peril). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | rizikovati (chance, gamble, jeopardize), rizik (gamble, jeopardy, peril), reskirati (take the plunge), opasnost (danger, death trap, deathtrap, distress, jeopardy, menace, peril), izložiti se opasnosti (venture). (various references) | |
Spanish | riesgo (chance, danger, dizziness, gamble, hazard, liability, lottery, peril, venture), arriesgar (dare, endanger, hazard, imperil, jeopard, jeopardize, jeopardy, run the risk, take a chance, venture). (various references) | |
Swedish | risk (danger, fear, hazard, venture), våga (be bold, Crimp, dare, hazard, venture), riskera (adventure, chance on, dare, endanger, hazard, imperil, jeopard, jeopardize, peril, venture), fara (danger, drive, emergency, go, hazard, jeopardy, leave, menace, peril, ride, threat, travel, wander, warning), äventyra (adventure, compromise, endanger, hazard, imperil, jeopard, jeopardize, venture), äventyr (adventure, hazardous venture). (various references) | |
Thai | เสี่ยงทำ, เสี่ยงภัย, การเสี่ยง, ภัยอันตราย (menace). (various references) | |
Turkish | riziko (chance, jeopardy), riske atmak (adventure, compromise, gamble, jeopardize, lay on the line, put at risk, put in jeopardy, put on the line, set, stake, venture, wager), risk (adventure, chance, fear, hazard, jeopardy, venture), tehlikeye atmak (adventure, endanger, hazard, imperil, jeopardize, lay on the line, pawn, peril, put at risk, put in jeopardy, put on the line, set, stake, venture), tehlike (danger, distress, emergency, hazard, jeopardy, peril, shoal, storm cloud, threat), göze almak (chance, envisage, face, face up to, take the chance, venture). (various references) | |
Turkmen | tцwekgellik, tцwekgelзilik, heder (fear, peril). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | страхова сума, ризикувати (accept risks, adventure, boggle, dare, endanger, gamble, hazard, jeopard, jeopardize, jeopardy, run the risk, run the venture, take the risk, venture, wager), ризик (adventure, chance, danger, die, hazard, peril), відважуватися (adventure). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | sự nguy hiểm (danger, peril, perilousness), sự mạo hiểm sự rủi ro, sự liều. (various references) | |
Welsh | perygl (danger, peril). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | audeam, audeant, audeas, audeat, audebant, audebat, audebit, audebunt, audemus, audentes, audeo, audere, auderet, audet, ausi, ausus, dimicabit, dimicabitis, dimicant, dimicantes, dimicare, dimicarent, dimicaret, dimicasset, dimicatum, dimicaveritis, dimicaverunt, dimicavi, dimicavit, dimicent, periclitabatur, periclitabitur, periclitamur, periclitantem, periclitari, periclitatus, pericula, periculi, periculis, periculo, periculorum, periculum. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "risk": risked, risker, riskers, riskier, riskiest, riskily, riskiness, riskinesses, risking, riskless, risks, risky. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "risk": asterisk, brisk, frisk, tamarisk. (additional references) | |
Words containing "risk": asterisked, asterisking, asteriskless, asterisks, brisked, brisker, briskest, brisket, briskets, brisking, briskly, briskness, brisknesses, brisks, frisked, frisker, friskers, frisket, friskets, friskier, friskiest, friskily, friskiness, friskinesses, frisking, frisks, frisky, griskin, griskins, tamarisks, triskaidekaphobia, triskaidekaphobias, triskele, triskeles, triskelia, triskelion, triskelions. (additional references) | |
| |
"Risk" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: isk, lisk, Mrisc, pisk, prisk, Rajska, Rajski, Rasc, rask, Raska, Rastko, resk, rewk, riek, Riesco, Riessa, rihk, riis, rijk, rik, rika, rikk, rilk, rirk, Risa, Risak, risc, Risca, risce, risch, risck, Risco, rish, risi, risj, riske, rism, riso, risp, Rissa, riszk, riz, riza, Rizq, rs, rsk, ruske, ruski, Rusko, Rusuku, ryk, Ryskov, trisk, visk. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "risk" (pronounced ri"sk) |
| 4 | r i" s k | brisk, Frisk. |
| 3 | -i" s k | bisque, disc, disk, fisc, whisk. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: irks, kirs, kris. | |
| Words within the letters "i-k-r-s" | |
-1 letter: irk, kir, sir, ski, sri. | |
-2 letters: is, si. | |
| Words containing the letters "i-k-r-s" | |
+1 letter: birks, brisk, dirks, frisk, keirs, kiers, kirks, kirns, mirks, rakis, ricks, rinks, risks, risky, shirk, siker, skier, skirl, skirr, skirt, smirk, stirk. | |
+2 letters: bikers, bricks, brinks, brisks, chirks, cricks, dikers, drinks, fakirs, frisks, frisky, hikers, ickers, inkers, irokos, kafirs, kaiser, kauris, kefirs, kermis, kirsch, kisser, kiters, kraits, krills, krises, krubis, kukris, kyries, likers, pikers, pricks, prinks, quirks, rakish, reinks, risked, risker, schrik, shikar, shirks, shriek, shrike, shrink, sicker, sinker, skiers, skirls, skirrs, skirts, skiver, smirks, smirky, spiker, stirks, strick, strike, traiks, tricks, trikes, wricks. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Familiar 10. Quotations: Historic 11. Quotations: Fiction 12. Quotations: Non-fiction | 13. Quotations: Spoken 14. Quotations: Speeches 15. Usage Frequency 16. Names: Frequency | 17. Names: Company Usage 18. Expressions 19. Expressions: Internet 20. Translations: Modern | 21. Translations: Ancient 22. Derivations 23. Rhymes 24. Anagrams | 25. Bibliography |
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