Fickle

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈfɪk.əl/

Definitions

1. Subject to rapid and unexpected changes, this quality denotes a lack of firm commitment or loyalty in relationships or preferences
2. Displaying inconsistency in emotions or choices, this nature reveals an unreliability that can cause confusion in interactions
3. Characterized by changeable and capricious behaviors, this trait indicates an absence of steadfastness and consistent loyalty in opinions or affiliations

Etymology: Fickle began as a word for trickery, not caprice. Its Old English ancestor "ficol" meant "cunning, tricky, deceitful," and for centuries the adjective described someone who was slippery or dishonest rather than someone whose mood swung. The sense of changeability emerged later, as a deceiver's shifting behaviour came to be the feature people noticed most. The word belongs to a family of deception words. Its Middle English form "fikelen" was a verb meaning to deceive, and German relatives such as "ficklen" and "ficheln" carry the same sense of deceiving or flattering. Low German "fikkelen" shares this root too, so the connection to cheating was widespread across the related languages, not confined to English. Fickle is closely related to "fike," the source word the etymology points to, which hints at a restless or fidgeting quality. The modern meaning of constantly shifting feelings is therefore a softened descendant of an older accusation of dishonesty.

Synonyms: changeable, inconstant, unstable, variable, mercurial

Antonyms: constant, stable, steady, reliable, predictable