fickle
pronunciation
How to pronounce fickle in British English:
UK [ˈfɪkl]
How to pronounce fickle in American English:
US [ˈfɪkl]
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- Adjective:
- marked by erratic changeableness in affections or attachments
- liable to sudden unpredictable change
Word Origin
- fickle (adj.)
- c. 1200, "false, treacherous, deceptive, deceitful, crafty" (obsolete), probably from Old English ficol "deceitful, cunning, tricky," related to befician "deceive," and to facen "deceit, treachery; blemish, fault." Common Germanic (compare Old Saxon fekan "deceit," Old High German feihhan "deceit, fraud, treachery"), from PIE *peig- (2) "evil-minded, treacherous, hostile" (see foe). Sense of "changeable, inconstant, unstable" is from c. 1300 (especially of Fortune and women). Related: Fickleness. Fickly (c. 1300) is rare or obsolete. Also with a verb form in Middle English, fikelen "to deceive, flatter," later "to puzzle, perplex," which survived long enough in Northern dialects to get into Scott's novels. Fikel-tonge (late 14c.) was an allegorical or character name for "one who speaks falsehoods."
Synonym
Example
- 1. That helps explain why voters are so fickle .
- 2. The fickle can adjust their workout scenery and sound track .
- 3. These capital flows are susceptible to global shocks and may prove fickle .
- 4. The cat is a much better model for the fickle knowledge worker .
- 5. Europe 's banking system relied more than any other on fickle borrowing markets that had dried up .