What does hazarded mean?
Hazarded is the past tense and past participle of hazard, a formal verb meaning to put someone or something at risk of harm. In its principal sense, it describes an action that exposes a person, possession, or plan to danger: “He hazarded his life to save them.” The word can also occur in the older or literary construction “hazard a guess,” meaning to venture an opinion despite uncertainty. Hazarded is uncommon in everyday speech, where risked, endangered, or ventured may sound more natural, but it remains useful in narrative, historical, and formal prose. Its slightly old-fashioned tone gives sentences a sense of deliberation and risk. Though most often encountered as a past-tense form, it belongs to the wider hazard family, which connects ideas of danger, chance, exposure, and risk.
verbTo expose someone or something to danger; to risk or endanger. In older usage, it can also mean to venture or dare to offer something.
- To expose a person, thing, or prospect to danger or loss.
- To venture or dare to make an assertion, proposal, or guess.
"The climber hazarded his life to reach the stranded hikers."
"She hazarded her reputation by supporting an unpopular cause."
"The investigator hazarded a guess about the missing object."
In “hazarded a guess,” the word means dared rather than endangered—a striking reminder that risk and uncertainty have always shared a linguistic family.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does hazarded come from?
Hazarded is the past tense and past participle of hazard. The English word entered through Middle English from Anglo-French or Old French hasard, although proposals for its ultimate source are disputed. Related Romance forms include French hasard, Italian azzardo, and Spanish azar, while hazardous was formed later from the same English base.
Related word forms
How hazarded is actually used
Hazarded is formal and relatively uncommon in contemporary speech. The construction “hazard a guess” is especially literary or dated, while the sense of putting something at risk appears in narrative, historical, and elevated prose.
Easily confused with hazarded
Hazard is the base form of the verb and can also be a noun, whereas hazarded is its past tense and past participle.