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inconstant

[in-kon-stuhnt]
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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

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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

Related Words

capriciouserraticfickleflickeringimpulsiveinconsistentintermittentirregularirresolutemercurialuncertainundependableunreliableunsettledunstablevacillatingvariablevaryingvolatilewavering

Examples from the Web for inconstant

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • I hope, Fanny, you are not inconstant; I assure you he deserves much better of you.

    Joseph Andrews Vol. 1

    Henry Fielding

  • Some are warm, but volatile and inconstant; he was warm too, but steady and unchangeable.

  • They bloom together, they wither together; not one of them is inconstant.

  • Does he seem so light and inconstant that he needs some discipline?

  • Violet would no more allow me to be supplanted than Percy could be inconstant.'

    Heartsease

    Charlotte M. Yonge

British Dictionary definitions for inconstant

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 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
inconstant 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.