quicksilver
/'kwik,silvə/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun:
- Mercury: A heavy, silvery, toxic metallic element that is liquid at ordinary temperatures. It is the only metal that exists in a liquid state under standard conditions.
Adjective:
- Changeable, volatile: Liable to sudden, rapid, and unpredictable change. Describes a character, mood, or situation that is erratic and fickle.
Examples of Usage
Noun:
- The old thermometer contained quicksilver.
- Handling quicksilver requires caution due to its toxicity.
Adjective:
- Her quicksilver moods made her difficult to predict.
- The plot had a quicksilver quality, shifting direction without warning.
Advanced Usage
- Literary/Figurative Use: The adjective form is often used in literary contexts to describe something that is brilliantly fast, elusive, or constantly changing.
- He had a quicksilver wit, always ready with a clever reply.
- The dancer's quicksilver movements captivated the audience.
Variants and Related Words
- Mercurial (adj): Having the characteristics of the god Mercury, especially eloquence, shrewdness, swiftness, and thievishness. Now more commonly used than 'quicksilver' to describe a volatile or changeable temperament.
- His mercurial rise to fame was followed by an equally sudden fall.
Synonyms
- Noun: Mercury, Hg (chemical symbol), hydrargyrum.
- Adjective: Volatile, capricious, erratic, fickle, changeable, mercurial, unpredictable, inconstant.
Related Idioms and Phrases
- To have quicksilver in one's veins: To be extremely lively, restless, or energetic. (This idiom uses the noun 'quicksilver' figuratively).
- The young explorer seemed to have quicksilver in his veins, never able to sit still.
Adjective
- 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
Noun
- a heavy silvery toxic univalent and bivalent metallic element; the only metal that is liquid at ordinary temperatures