English Reference
Adjective

racy

adj.
C1 Advanced US /ˈɹeɪsi/ UK /ɹˈeɪsi/ racy Programming

adj.describing code that has a race condition, where two or more parts of a program try to change the same data at the same time. This can cause the program to behave in an unexpected or dangerous way.

adj.characterised by a race condition, where the outcome of a program depends on the relative timing of events. Often used in the context of concurrent or parallel programming to describe code that is not thread-safe.


SIMPLE

The developer found a racy condition in the login system.

CONTEXTUAL

Because the two threads are accessing the same memory address without a lock, the code is racy and may crash under heavy load.

COMPLEX

While the single-threaded version of the algorithm worked perfectly, the multi-threaded implementation was racy, leading to inconsistent data states that were difficult to reproduce during testing.

One of them is Soi 6, which runs down to the main beach, and is known for its concentration of racy go-go bars.

BBC News· 2 Sept 2026

From race (“having a characteristic taste (of wines, fruits, etc.)”) + -y.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Level C1 · Advanced
Frequency Occasional
Updated