fickle
[ fik-uhl ]
/ ˈfɪk əl /
adjective
likely to change, especially due to caprice, irresolution, or instability; casually changeable: fickle weather.
not constant or loyal in affections: a fickle lover.
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Origin of fickle
before 1000; Middle English fikel, Old English ficol deceitful, akin to fācen treachery, fician to deceive, gefic deception
SYNONYMS FOR fickle
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.
Related formsfick·le·ness, nounun·fick·le, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for fickle
British Dictionary definitions for fickle
fickle
/ (ˈfɪkəl) /
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
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Word Origin and History for fickle
fickle
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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper