: marked by lack of steadfastness, constancy, or stability : given to erratic changeableness
fickleness
noun
Examples of fickle in a Sentence
The Weak will suck up to the Strong, for fear of losing their jobs and their money and all the fickle power they wielded only twenty-four hours ago.
—
Hunter S. Thompson, Rolling Stone, 11 Nov. 2004
The corporate fan who has replaced the core fan is a fickle beast, choosy about which games he'll use his precious free time to attend.
—E. M. Swift, Sports Illustrated, 15 May 2000
A failed play was a denial of what Odets was owed, for he was chasing the public no differently than did his bourgeois and nonrevolutionary contemporaries, a public as fickle as it always was and is.
—Arthur Miller, Harper's, March 1999
War is like hard-drug abuse or a fickle lover, an apparently contradictory bolt of compulsion, agony and ecstasy that draws you back in the face of better judgment time and time again.
—Anthony Loyd, My War Gone By, 1999
He blames poor sales on fickle consumers.
a fickle friendship that was on and off over the years
Hunter S. Thompson, Rolling Stone, 11 Nov. 2004
The corporate fan who has replaced the core fan is a fickle beast, choosy about which games he'll use his precious free time to attend.
—E. M. Swift, Sports Illustrated, 15 May 2000
A failed play was a denial of what Odets was owed, for he was chasing the public no differently than did his bourgeois and nonrevolutionary contemporaries, a public as fickle as it always was and is.
—Arthur Miller, Harper's, March 1999
War is like hard-drug abuse or a fickle lover, an apparently contradictory bolt of compulsion, agony and ecstasy that draws you back in the face of better judgment time and time again.
—Anthony Loyd, My War Gone By, 1999
He blames poor sales on fickle consumers.
a fickle friendship that was on and off over the years
Recent Examples on the Web
But because no one actor has unilateral control over the sector’s future, the prices of these coins remain as fickle as ever.
—Will Gottsegen, The Atlantic, 11 Feb. 2026
Mina Sue’s fickle mid-season behavior also led to suitors Su-been and Seung-il losing interest.
—Kayti Burt, Time, 10 Feb. 2026
This reshoring effort represents a structural shift in the economy, moving investment into tangible manufacturing assets that are less susceptible to the fickle sentiment that often governs tech stocks.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 9 Feb. 2026
Light Layers The fickle nature of spring means that a beautiful sunny day can turn cold, windy, and spitting with rain at the drop of a hat.
—Elly Leavitt, Vogue, 5 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fickle
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Will Gottsegen, The Atlantic, 11 Feb. 2026
Mina Sue’s fickle mid-season behavior also led to suitors Su-been and Seung-il losing interest.
—Kayti Burt, Time, 10 Feb. 2026
This reshoring effort represents a structural shift in the economy, moving investment into tangible manufacturing assets that are less susceptible to the fickle sentiment that often governs tech stocks.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 9 Feb. 2026
Light Layers The fickle nature of spring means that a beautiful sunny day can turn cold, windy, and spitting with rain at the drop of a hat.
—Elly Leavitt, Vogue, 5 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fickle
Cite this Entry
“Fickle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fickle. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
fickle
adjective
fick·le
ˈfik-əl 
: likely to change frequently without good reason : inconstant
fickle friends
fickleness
noun
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