fickle

/'fikl/

Thân thiện

The weather is fickle, sunny one moment and rainy the next.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Liable to sudden unpredictable change: Describes something or someone that changes often and without warning, making it unreliable or unstable.
   • Marked by erratic changeableness in affections or attachments: Specifically describes a person whose feelings, loyalties, or interests are not constant and shift frequently.

Usage Examples

• Describing a person's character or feelings:
  • He was a fickle friend, always changing his mind about who he liked.
  • Her fickle affections made it hard for anyone to trust her promises.
• Describing changeable things or conditions:
  • The island is known for its fickle weather, which can turn from sunny to stormy in minutes.
  • Consumer tastes are notoriously fickle, making the fashion industry very challenging.

Advanced Usage

• "Fickle fortune": A literary phrase referring to the unpredictable nature of luck or success.
  • Many stories are about heroes brought down by fickle fortune.
• "The fickle finger of fate": An idiomatic expression highlighting how fate can change situations unexpectedly.
  • It was the fickle finger of fate that led them to meet again after twenty years.

Variants and Related Words

• Fickleness (noun): The quality of being fickle.
  • The fickleness of public opinion is a constant worry for politicians.
• Fickly (adverb, archaic): In a fickle manner.

Synonyms

• Capricious: Given to sudden and unaccountable changes of mood or behavior.
• Mercurial: Subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind.
• Volatile: Liable to change rapidly and unpredictably, especially for the worse.
• Inconstant: Frequently changing; not loyal or faithful.

Antonyms

• Constant: Occurring continuously over a period of time; loyal and faithful.
• Steadfast: Resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering.
• Reliable: Consistently good in quality or performance; able to be trusted.

Related Idioms

• As fickle as the weather: Used to emphasize that someone or something changes very frequently and without reason.
  • His opinions on the matter are as fickle as the weather.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. liable to sudden unpredictable change
   • erratic behavior
   • fickle weather
   • mercurial twists of temperament
   • a quicksilver character, cool and willful at one moment, utterly fragile the next
2. marked by erratic changeableness in affections or attachments
   • fickle friends
   • a flirt's volatile affections

Từ đồng nghĩa

• erratic
• mercurial
• quicksilver
• volatile