inconstant

adjective

in·​con·​stant (ˌ)in-ˈkän(t)-stənt 

1

: likely to change in feelings

an inconstant friend

2

: likely to change frequently without apparent or cogent reason

the inconstant nature of the business

inconstantly adverb

Synonyms of inconstant

• volatile
• unpredictable
• changeful
• unstable
• inconsistent

Choose the Right Synonym for inconstant

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 inconstant in a Sentence

the inconstant nature of the business

our windjammer sailed wherever the inconstant winds took us

Recent Examples on the Web

The key finding is that as the distance grows greater, the coupling stops growing, and the inconstant constant becomes constant once more. — Stanley J. Brodsky, Scientific American, 16 Apr. 2024

Much like a patient who fails to finish a course of antibiotics, inconstant policies may incur all the costs and none of the benefits. — David Carlin, Forbes, 24 Mar. 2025

The self is a shifting, inconstant phenomenon, brain and body ever transforming in time and space, with no clear delineation between what is self and what is other. — Lauren Groff, The Atlantic, 20 Aug. 2025

Each one grew up in a home that required her to curry favor with volatile and inconstant parents—a menacing father figure, a recessive and enabling mother—and each found a fragile safety in her caretakers’ occasional good will. — Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin inconstant-, inconstans, from in- + constant-, constans constant

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for inconstant

• constant

Kids Definition

inconstant

adjective

in·​con·​stant (ˈ)in-ˈkän(t)-stənt 

: likely to change frequently without apparent reason : changeable

Medical Definition

inconstant

adjective

in·​con·​stant ˈin-ˈkän(t)-stənt 

: not always present

an inconstant muscle