fickle

[ fik-uhl ]

adjective

1. likely to change, especially due to caprice, irresolution, or instability; casually changeable:

   fickle weather.

   Synonyms: fitful, capricious, variable, unsteady, unstable

2. not constant or loyal in affections:

   a fickle lover.

   Synonyms: inconstant

fickle

/ ˈfɪkəl /

adjective

1. changeable in purpose, affections, etc; capricious

Derived Forms

• ˈfickleness, noun

Other Words From

• fickle·ness noun
• un·fickle adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of fickle¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English fikel, Old English ficol “deceitful,” akin to fācen “treachery,” (be)fician “to deceive,” fǣcne “deceitful,” gefic “deception”

Word History and Origins

Origin of fickle¹

Old English ficol deceitful; related to fician to wheedle, befician to deceive

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

"This is inherently a fickle market, with consumers happy to swap streamer if they don’t think they’re getting value," he said.

From BBC

But everything changes in the fickle world of pop music.

From Los Angeles Times

"There’s a history of growers in Vietnam being fickle in response to market price fluctuations, overcommitting, and then flooding the market with quantities of their new crop," Mr Firth says.

From BBC

Swift's most public blunders have centered on people questioning whether her well-known liberal politics are as fickle as fans' belief in her.

From Salon

But our weather can be fickle and, sure enough, another change is on the way.

From BBC

Related Words

• capricious
• changeable
• flighty
• temperamental
• unpredictable
• unstable
• volatile