Vicar of Bray
Britishnoun
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a vicar (Simon Aleyn) appointed to the parish of Bray in Berkshire during Henry VIII's reign who changed his faith to Catholic when Mary I was on the throne and back to Protestant when Elizabeth I succeeded and so retained his living
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Also called: In Good King Charles's Golden Days. a ballad in which the vicar's changes of faith are transposed to the Stuart period
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a person who changes his or her views or allegiances in accordance with what is suitable at the time
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When taunted as a turncoat, he replied, "Not so, for I have always been true to my principles, which are to live and die Vicar of Bray."
From The Leading Facts of English History by Montgomery, D. H. (David Henry)
He had acted like the Vicar of Bray, and might yet find, like that individual, that by taking both sides of a question he might fall through between.
From The Story of the Upper Canada Rebellion by Dent, John Charles
Bray Church, where officiated the famous "Vicar of Bray," Symond Symonds, is below Maidenhead.
From England, Picturesque and Descriptive A Reminiscence of Foreign Travel by Cook, Joel
The son of a man who might have been the original of the Vicar of Bray, he was very little of a poet, less of a priest, but a great deal of a politician.
From The Wits and Beaux of Society Volume 1 by Wharton, Grace
Who has not heard of the Vicar of Bray, and his turning, turning, and turning again?
From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 17, No. 482, March 26, 1831 by Various
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.
