fickle

[fik-uhl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fickle ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

likely to change, especially due to caprice, irresolution, or instability; casually changeable: fickle weather.

not constant or loyal in affections: a fickle lover.

Origin of fickle

before 1000; Middle English fikel, Old English ficol deceitful, akin to fācen treachery, fician to deceive, gefic deception

Related formsfick·le·ness, nounun·fick·le, adjective

Synonyms for fickle

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fickle ON THESAURUS.COM

1. unstable, unsteady, variable, capricious, fitful. 2. inconstant. 1, 2. Fickle, inconstant, capricious, vacillating describe persons or things that are not firm or steady in affection, behavior, opinion, or loyalty. Fickle implies an underlying perversity as a cause for the lack of stability: the fickle seasons, disappointing as often as they delight; once lionized, now rejected by a fickle public. Inconstant suggests an innate disposition to change: an inconstant lover, flitting from affair to affair. Capricious implies unpredictable changeability arising from sudden whim: a capricious administration constantly and inexplicably changing its signals; a capricious and astounding reversal of position. Vacillating means changeable due to lack of resolution or firmness: an indecisive, vacillating leader, apparently incapable of a sustained course of action.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for fickle

unpredictable, unstable, volatile, flighty, capricious, changeable, temperamental, arbitrary, cheating, faithless, fitful, frivolous, inconstant, irresolute, mercurial, mutable, ticklish, two-timing, unfaithful, unsteady

Examples from the Web for fickle

Contemporary Examples of fickle

Those of us who live here are a fickle bunch with fleeting attention spans.
Catch Him If You Can: Reliving Banksy’s New York Invasion
Alex Suskind
November 14, 2014
This points the fickle finger of guilt at the White House itself.
Before Ditching His Top Aides, Obama Should Look in the Mirror
Leslie H. Gelb
November 2, 2014
At the very least, the fickle and discerning moviegoer is getting a vibrant diagnosis: healthier than ever.
Is the Summer Blockbuster Dead?
Kevin Fallon
July 14, 2014
And sales, those tricky little figures so dependent on the wants and whims of a fickle public, were impeded for that very reason.
Hillbilly Heaven: The History of Small-Batch Bourbon
Dane Huckelbridge
March 29, 2014
Plus, social media users are also notoriously trendy and fickle.
Gaming the Twitter IPO
Daniel Gross
October 4, 2013

Historical Examples of fickle

She did not understand the workings of Pee-wee's active and fickle mind.
Pee-wee Harris
Percy Keese Fitzhugh
Vere, Artois thought, might be violent, but would not be fickle.
A Spirit in Prison
Robert Hichens
Of these the forms should be fixed, and not allowed to depend on the fickle breath of the multitude.
Laws
Plato
It is a fickle ally at best, and to rely on its support is to lean on a split reed.
England and Germany
Emile Joseph Dillon
It was all over, and he had to bear the loss of the fickle girl as best he might.
Great Men and Famous Women, Vol. 8 (of 8)
Various

British Dictionary definitions for fickle

fickle

adjective

changeable in purpose, affections, etc; capricious

Derived Formsfickleness, noun

Word Origin for fickle

Old English ficol deceitful; related to fician to wheedle, befician to deceive

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for fickle

adj.

c.1200, probably from Old English ficol "deceitful, cunning, tricky," related to befician "deceive," and to facen "deceit, treachery." Common Germanic (cf. Old Saxon fekan "deceit," Old High German feihhan "deceit, fraud, treachery"), from PIE *peig- "evil-minded, treacherous, hostile" (cf. Latin piget "it irks, troubles, displeases," piger "reluctant, lazy"). Sense of "changeable" is first recorded late 13c. Related: Fickleness.