fickle

adjective

fick·​le ˈfi-kəl How to pronounce fickle (audio)
: marked by lack of steadfastness, constancy, or stability : given to erratic changeableness
fickleness noun
fickly adverb
Choose the Right Synonym for fickle

inconstant, fickle, capricious, mercurial, unstable mean lacking firmness or steadiness (as in purpose or devotion).

inconstant implies an incapacity for steadiness and an inherent tendency to change.

an inconstant friend

fickle suggests unreliability because of perverse changeability and incapacity for steadfastness.

performers discover how fickle fans can be

capricious suggests motivation by sudden whim or fancy and stresses unpredictability.

an utterly capricious critic

mercurial implies a rapid changeability in mood.

made anxious by her boss's mercurial temperament

unstable implies an incapacity for remaining in a fixed position or steady course and applies especially to a lack of emotional balance.

too unstable to hold a job

Examples of fickle in a Sentence

The Weak will suck up to the Strong, for fear of losing their jobs and their money and all the fickle power they wielded only twenty-four hours ago. Hunter S. Thompson, Rolling Stone, 11 Nov. 2004
The corporate fan who has replaced the core fan is a fickle beast, choosy about which games he'll use his precious free time to attend. E. M. Swift, Sports Illustrated, 15 May 2000
A failed play was a denial of what Odets was owed, for he was chasing the public no differently than did his bourgeois and nonrevolutionary contemporaries, a public as fickle as it always was and is. Arthur Miller, Harper's, March 1999
War is like hard-drug abuse or a fickle lover, an apparently contradictory bolt of compulsion, agony and ecstasy that draws you back in the face of better judgment time and time again. Anthony Loyd, My War Gone By, 1999
He blames poor sales on fickle consumers. a fickle friendship that was on and off over the years
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Luke’s Passion narrative shows religious elites, corrupt politicians, and a fickle crowd destroying the innocent. Rev. Frank Alagna, The Orlando Sentinel, 10 Apr. 2025 Plus, the cast and crew were only shooting during that magical, yet fickle sunset lighting. Nick Caruso, TVLine, 26 Mar. 2025 Los Angeles enters the season as heavy favorites to repeat but due to the fickle nature of baseball at times, anything can happen. Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 21 Mar. 2025 Microsoft, which also saw its acquisition of Nokia Oyj’s mobile phone business end in failure, is far from alone in encountering rejection by a fickle consumer market. Bloomberg, Orange County Register, 28 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for fickle

Word History

Etymology

Middle English fikel deceitful, inconstant, from Old English ficol deceitful; akin to Old English befician to deceive, and probably to Old English fāh hostile — more at foe

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of fickle was in the 13th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Fickle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fickle. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.

Kids Definition

fickle

adjective
fick·​le ˈfik-əl How to pronounce fickle (audio)
: likely to change frequently without good reason : inconstant
fickle friends
fickleness noun
fickly adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on fickle

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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