inconstant

[in-kon-stuhnt]

See more synonyms for inconstant on Thesaurus.com

adjective

not constant; changeable; fickle; variable: an inconstant friend.

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 for inconstant

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moody, capricious, vacillating, wavering; undependable, unstable, unsettled, uncertain; mutable, mercurial, volatile. See fickle.

Antonyms for inconstant

steady.

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

Related Words for inconstancy

treachery, affair, betrayal, duplicity, adultery, nervousness, anxiety, agitation, insomnia, disquiet, jitters, uneasiness, ferment, instability, whim, quirk, flaw, vulnerability, lapse, lack

Examples from the Web for inconstancy

Historical Examples of inconstancy

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.
The Middle Class Gentleman
Moliere
Her flightiness or inconstancy was of the most dangerous kind.
The Memoirs of Louis XIV., His Court and The Regency, Complete
Duc de Saint-Simon
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.
Highways & Byways in Sussex
E.V. Lucas

British Dictionary definitions for inconstancy

inconstant

adjective

not constant; variable
fickle

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

1520s, from Latin inconstantia (see inconstance).

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.

inconstancy in Medicine

inconstant

[ĭn-kŏn′stənt]

adj.

Changing or varying, especially often and without discernible pattern or reason.
Relating to a structure that normally may or may not be present.