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inconstant

[in-kon-stuh nt]
See more synonyms for inconstant on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. not constant; changeable; fickle; variable: an inconstant friend.
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Origin of inconstant

1375–1425; late Middle English inconstaunt < Latin inconstant- (stem of inconstāns) changeable. See in-3, constant
Related formsin·con·stan·cy, nounin·con·stant·ly, adverb

Synonyms

See more synonyms for inconstant on Thesaurus.com
moody, capricious, vacillating, wavering; undependable, unstable, unsettled, uncertain; mutable, mercurial, volatile. See fickle.

Antonyms

steady.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for inconstancy

Historical Examples

  • It was not long before they had to pay a heavy penalty for their treachery and inconstancy.

    Stories from Thucydides

    H. L. Havell

  • But it is necessary for me, for my honor, to prevent the scandal of her inconstancy.

  • Her flightiness or inconstancy was of the most dangerous kind.

  • He was tired of her, and yet he seems to have been ashamed to confess his inconstancy.

    Mary Wollstonecraft

    Elizabeth Robins Pennell

  • Others are ceramic satires on the drunkard's folly or the inconstancy of women.

British Dictionary definitions for inconstancy

inconstant

adjective
  1. not constant; variable
  2. fickle
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Derived Formsinconstancy, nouninconstantly, adverb
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 inconstancy

n.

1520s, from Latin inconstantia (see inconstance).

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inconstant

adj.

c.1400, "fickle, not steadfast," from Middle French inconstant (late 14c.), from Latin inconstantem (nominative inconstans) "changeable, fickle, capricious," from in- "not, opposite of, without" (see in- (1)) + constantem (see constant). Related: Inconstantly.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
inconstancy in Medicine

inconstant

(ĭn-kŏn′stənt)
adj.
  1. Changing or varying, especially often and without discernible pattern or reason.
  2. Relating to a structure that normally may or may not be present.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.