Word opposite of risk but still entailing uncertainty

Question

The word risk is used to describe a situation in which there are several possible outcomes each entailing a possible loss, and one is not certain as to which of the outcomes will happen. What I want is an opposite of the word risk, which still describes a situation in which there are several possible outcomes and one is uncertain as to which of the outcomes will happen, but this time, each outcomes entails a gain instead of a loss.

If you look for the antonyms of risk, you get words like security, safety, which I don't think entail the uncertainty as to the outcome.

Surely, the investment industry has many euphemisms for describing uncertain outcomes in a favourable light ... or maybe the word 'risk' has no negative connotations for them. — pavium, Jun 27 '11 at 07:53
Actually risk is not always a possible loss from the economic standpoint. Risks which can lead only to a possible loss are called pure risks, while the other ones with possible good outcomes are called speculative risks. — Malcolm, Jan 08 '12 at 09:26

Unreason · Answer 1 · 2011-06-27T11:25:24.923

9

Opportunity is another one.

Antonymous meaning is evident in phrases like: "risks and opportunities".

Yourdictionary lists these synonyms for opportunity: chance, occasion, suitable circumstance, juncture, opening, excuse, happening, contingency, event, befalling, probability, fitness, fortuity, good fortune, luck, hap, fair go, break, even break, shot; some of these have positive connotation and might also apply.

edited Jun 27 '11 at 11:25

answered Jun 27 '11 at 08:01

Unreason

12,446

In practice we often seem to use this, so it's not a bad answer, but....
It doesn't map well for example to risk = threat x vulnerability x asset value (I know it's not really an equation!), because 'opportunity' tends to sit opposite 'threat' on SWOT.

I'm not sure it should though. I think that's a different kind of threat...
– MartinMlima Feb 12 '21 at 17:47

Thursagen · Accepted Answer · 2011-06-27T11:26:05.473

5

A nice word could be:

Prospective

As in:

"Being a manager of this branch is prospective indeed."

edited Jun 27 '11 at 11:26

answered Jun 27 '11 at 05:10

Thursagen

41,919

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 27 '11 at 05:20

2

A chance is a possibility that something happens; it's not used in negative sense as risk, but still it's not a certainty.

Our football team has a chance of victory.

answered Jun 27 '11 at 05:20

apaderno

59,185

But I don't see how chance implies a gain. Chance only implies uncertainty. I need a word that implies both gain and uncertainty. – a06e Jun 27 '11 at 06:20
@becko, opportunity, chance and prospect/prospective all have at least one meaning that can be interpreted as possibility of gain. Chance and prospective can both refer to negative; they can be: gloomy, horrible and hopeless or bad. You can apply similar attributes to opportunity and prospect, but the effect would only reflect in the meaning of gain. – Unreason Jun 27 '11 at 08:10

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 27 '11 at 11:23

I don't think there is an answer to this question as asked, because it assumes there is a "zero level" above which all outcomes are good, and below which all outcomes are bad. The marketing industry would like you to believe this: they will happily sell you a 'guaranteed winning ticket' that will entitle you to a negligible prize. But in the real world, a loss avoided is a gain (if your investments lost only 5% when the rest of the stock market lost 25%, you were lucky or skilful), and an opportunity missed is a genuine loss (keeping your money under the mattress costs you money at the rate of inflation). So risk, gamble, luck apply as much to good outcomes as bad ones: the trick is to choose which risks you take.

Don't know which real world you are in, but loss avoided is not gain (it can be gain compared to target if you were pessimistic when setting it, or it can be gain compared to the rest of the market; moreover this usage, I believe, comes from accounting and is influenced by the way transactions are booked) -1 — Unreason, Jun 27 '11 at 11:41

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 27 '11 at 10:38

0

Risk averse is often used corporately. The betting industry has many terms such as odds-on, dead-cert, risk-free but the accuracy of these claims are often suspect.

answered Jun 27 '11 at 10:38

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Jun 27 '11 at 12:54

0

I think the betting term for a LIKELY WIN is "vig" for "vigorish." That is, what the casino expects to make on a particular bet (that's stacked in its favor). The "house" could even lose, but it is an overwhelming favorite to win.

answered Jun 27 '11 at 12:54

Tom Au

11,056

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Sep 23 '16 at 05:14

0

Reward.

"Reward for information leading to the arrest of..."

"The higher the risk, the higher the reward."

You don't know what you're going to get, but it is desirable.

answered Sep 23 '16 at 05:14

Jason

1

Dale Newton · Answer 8 · 2022-06-13T19:14:54.347

Opportunity risk, also sometimes referred to as positive risk.

An opportunity-risk is defined as an uncertainty that if it occurs would have a positive effect on achievement of project objectives. The exploit response seeks to eliminate the uncertainty by making the opportunity definitely happen.

— Hillson, D. (2001)

In other words, an opportunity risk exists when the outcome(s) from a particular situation, event, decision, or action, can only be positive/beneficial, or neutral if the outcome is not achieved, but never negative.

In a business context for example, after identifying such an opportunity, the entity (business/investor/etc.) would then try to make sure that this positive outcome is indeed achieved. This act of making sure the positive outcome is finally realized is called 'exploiting'.

Word opposite of risk but still entailing uncertainty

8 Answers8