fair-weather
Americanadjective
-
used in or intended for fair weather only.
-
weakening or failing in time of trouble.
His fair-weather friends left him when he lost his money.
adjective
-
suitable for use in fair weather only
-
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.
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
But Sunak gamely stuck it out, later commenting that he was "not a fair-weather politician" and confirming he'd be taking an umbrella on the campaign trail.
From BBC • Dec. 25, 2024
Now, I get it: I love this show personally and cover it professionally, so I have a vested interest in it that sometimes goes beyond what more casual or fair-weather viewers might think of it.
From Salon • Jun. 5, 2024
She was trapped along a fair-weather bridge, a causeway built over Coyote Creek just north of Ventura.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 15, 2023
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.
