fair-weather
Americanadjective
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used in or intended for fair weather only.
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weakening or failing in time of trouble.
His fair-weather friends left him when he lost his money.
adjective
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suitable for use in fair weather only
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not reliable or present in situations of hardship or difficulty (esp in the phrase fair-weather friend )
Etymology
Origin of fair-weather
First recorded in 1730–40
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.
In response, Burnham said last week: "We are not fair-weather friends, we will be there in Ukraine's hour of need and that won't change."
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
Accepting differences also shows that you aren’t a fair-weather friend, she says, but someone who is going to be there if you need them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026
And, of course, there are always those fair-weather fans who pop up when their local team is succeeding.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 5, 2024
If a fair-weather friend is someone who only comes around when things are good, a bad-weather friend is someone you can depend on when things take a turn for the worse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 3, 2024
Chup led Frightful higher and higher, to the misty bottom of a fair-weather cumulus cloud.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
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.
