kaleidoscopic

Also ka·lei·do·scop·i·cal

[kuh-lahy-duh-skop-ik]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or created by a kaleidoscope.

2. changing form, pattern, color, etc., in a manner suggesting a kaleidoscope.

3. continually shifting from one set of relations to another; rapidly changing.

   the kaleidoscopic events of the past year.

   Synonyms: variable, protean, changeable

Other Word Forms

• kaleidoscopically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of kaleidoscopic¹

First recorded in 1840–50; kaleidoscope + -ic

Example Sentences

Mr. Desplechin takes a quick-cutting, kaleidoscopic approach to this domestic epic, and evokes in richly melodramatic style the feeling of passing the holidays with extended family.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The technique of “Train Dreams”—the stylized juxtaposition of images and narration, the kaleidoscopic jumble of anxious memories and pastoral portraits—is not the stuff of an Old West parable.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Dazzling visual effects permeate the latest movie featuring acrobatic, lightning-fast battles with demons at a kaleidoscopic castle with an infinite array of floors.

Read more on Barron's

Bienvenu’s movie, which tackles the realities of climate disaster and technological domination through a kaleidoscopic lens, believes that children deserve to know the truth about the world they’re growing up in.

Read more on Salon

The beads candle holder — available in a kaleidoscopic multi-color as well as in all-black — proves candle holders can be art in and of themselves.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• motley 
• psychedelic