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

Though some research has found cattle also prefer to graze alongside prairie dogs, the rodent-ungulate relationship is fickle in ways that aren’t fully understood.

From Popular-Science

That fickle mentality has carried the league, for better or worse, for a decade.

From Washington Post

In the fickle climate of today’s NBA, it’s hard to imagine a reconciliation, especially with Harden prepared to make the situation ugly.

From Washington Post

Facebook had long given developers access to its platform, known as an API, but was often fickle with how developers could use the data.

From Washington Post

For live, one-time events, you want the simplest setup possible—you won’t want to wrangle a fickle Wi-Fi router that’s struggling to handle loads of guests.

From Popular-Science

Ski resorts are a business, and one that can be quite fickle—a bad snow season means poor revenues.

From The Daily Beast

Those of us who live here are a fickle bunch with fleeting attention spans.

From The Daily Beast

This points the fickle finger of guilt at the White House itself.

From The Daily Beast

At the very least, the fickle and discerning moviegoer is getting a vibrant diagnosis: healthier than ever.

From The Daily Beast

And sales, those tricky little figures so dependent on the wants and whims of a fickle public, were impeded for that very reason.

From The Daily Beast

The new monarch, with his striking personality and good looks, at once captivated the hearts of his fickle Southern subjects.

From Project Gutenberg

But he was quite right in carping at her, for fortune, like other fickle jades, is more likely to be true if steadily abused.

From Project Gutenberg

He was an outlaw, hunted and despised, depending for his life on the caprice of a fickle-minded woman.

From Project Gutenberg

She was quite wickedly indifferent to consequences, and was inspired to woo the fickle goddess of popularity.

From Project Gutenberg

Women accuse men of being inconstant, and men retort that women are fickle.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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