chameleonic

adjective

cha·​me·​le·​on·​ic kə-¦mē-lē-¦ä-nik 

: like a chameleon in changeability : assuming varying hues : inconstant

In the future, the Green Beret command hopes to develop "chameleonic" suits that change colors so soldiers will still be camouflaged as they move from one background to another.

—Douglas Waller, Newsweek, 17 June 1991

They love to ponder the finer points of the Madonna phenomenon: her chameleonic image, her calculated provocations …

—David Hughes, New Yorker, 25 Sept. 2000

chameleonlike

kə-ˈmēl-yən-ˌlīk 

-ˈmē-lē-ən-

adjective

or chameleon-like

a chameleonlike performer

He has few rivals to match his political cunning, his brutality and his chameleon-like ability to adopt or shed political agendas that serve or do not serve him …

—Chris Hedges, New York Times Book Review, 21 Jan. 1996

Word History

First Known Use

1821, in the meaning defined above

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Rhymes for chameleonic

• architectonic
• neoplatonic
• pathognomonic
• postganglionic
• preganglionic
• stereophonic
• anharmonic
• anionic
• avionic
• catatonic
• cationic
• chorionic