mercurial
pronunciation
How to pronounce mercurial in British English:
UK [mɜ:ˈkjʊəriəl]
How to pronounce mercurial in American English:
US [mɜrˈkjʊriəl]
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- Adjective:
- liable to sudden unpredictable change
- relating to or containing or caused by mercury
Word Origin
- mercurial (adj.)
- late 14c., "pertaining to the planet Mercury" (see Mercury). Meaning "sprightly, volatile, quick" (1590s) is from supposed qualities of those born under the planet Mercury (they also are the qualities of the god Mercury), probably also partly by association with the qualities of quicksilver. A variant in this sense was mercurious (1590s). Related: Mercurially; mercuriality.
Example
- 1. What the mercurial mr kim offers leads nowhere .
- 2. It is hard , when it comes to this mercurial president , to disentangle conviction from opportunism .
- 3. She has been a steady and successful finance minister , no mean feat with a boss as mercurial as nicolas sarkozy .
- 4. Despite his relative youth , the 78-year-old police chief is said to suffer from severe diabetes , wobbly knees and a famously mercurial temperament .
- 5. One is a hard-working pragmatist , the other a mercurial idealist .