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

Other Word Forms

• fickleness noun
• unfickle 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

That said, there’s a lengthy enough record of futility to suggest more is at work than the changeable mood of a fickle electorate.

From Los Angeles Times

"And when that happens, it's hard. Fashion is a fickle beast, people move on quickly."

From BBC

Charles Allen, an intelligence analyst at Bloomberg, said River Island had failed to keep up with customer tastes which, he said "can be a bit fickle" but the retailer had found itself without "anything striking".

From BBC

However, Mr Nishimura notes that it has been "notoriously hard" for populist parties to firmly establish themselves as a presence in Japanese politics because of the "fickle" electorate.

From BBC

Just a little something to tickle my fickle taste buds.

From Salon

Related Words

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