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Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective fickle differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of fickle are capricious, inconstant, mercurial, and unstable. While all these words mean "lacking firmness or steadiness (as in purpose or devotion)," fickle suggests unreliability because of perverse changeability and incapacity for steadfastness.

performers discover how fickle fans can be

In what contexts can capricious take the place of fickle?

In some situations, the words capricious and fickle are roughly equivalent. However, capricious suggests motivation by sudden whim or fancy and stresses unpredictability.

an utterly capricious critic

When could inconstant be used to replace fickle?

The meanings of inconstant and fickle largely overlap; however, inconstant implies an incapacity for steadiness and an inherent tendency to change.

an inconstant friend

When is mercurial a more appropriate choice than fickle?

While the synonyms mercurial and fickle are close in meaning, mercurial implies a rapid changeability in mood.

made anxious by her boss's mercurial temperament

When might unstable be a better fit than fickle?

The synonyms unstable and fickle are sometimes interchangeable, but 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

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of fickle Against most experts’ expectations, the result suggested that dark energy—the mysterious force driving the universe’s accelerating expansion—was not an unwavering constant but rather a more fickle beast that was weakening over time. Lyndie Chiou, Scientific American, 30 Apr. 2025 Despite all the sensational headlines, De Bono is convinced De Zerbi continues to enjoy the support of the famously fickle Marseille faithful. Tom Williams, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2025 As for Sanders, the pre-draft process can be a fickle beast. Jim Reineking, USA Today, 26 Apr. 2025 Predicting the exact time of arrival for the CMEs is incredibly difficult as space weather, like weather on Earth, is a fickle creature. Daisy Dobrijevic, Space.com, 14 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for fickle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fickle
Adjective
  • Some of the problems are caused by a volatile economic landscape.
    Jack Kelly, Forbes.com, 10 May 2025
  • Indian authorities have evacuated tens of thousands of civilians from villages near the volatile frontier.
    Rajesh Roy, Chicago Tribune, 9 May 2025
Adjective
  • Michael Fassbender plays a British intelligence officer tasked with finding who leaked a top-secret software program and betrayed their country, and the list of five potentially traitorous suspects includes his own high-profile wife (Cate Blanchett).
    Brian Truitt, USA Today, 10 May 2025
  • Smith made out their former collaborators to be ungrateful and traitorous, and the kids weren't given the space to question her command.
    Zoey Lyttle, People.com, 18 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • The Outlaw Music Festival touched down Thursday night on the North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre in Chula Vista, California, and Bob Dylan once again delivered a wildly unpredictable set that stunned even his most hardcore fans.
    Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 16 May 2025
  • Markets are unpredictable, and a company's success doesn't ensure future returns.
    Mike Winters, CNBC, 15 May 2025
Adjective
  • The balloons provide critical data for computer models that forecasters use to predict the weather, raising the likelihood that projections will be more unreliable.
    Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 2 May 2025
  • But times have changed, with tracking becoming more unreliable.
    Pamela McClintock, HollywoodReporter, 29 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • The pine trees are towering and the fairways are twisting and the bunkers are deep and treacherous.
    Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 15 May 2025
  • Maybe the seemingly long haul on I-95 made treacherous by traffic congestion creates the Miami-Dade County and Broward County division among its residents.
    Michelle F. Solomon, Miami Herald, 13 May 2025
Adjective
  • Now their weird discomfort with disease—and their outré views on cancer in particular—is being refracted through a sea of false, indecent speculations.
    Benjamin Mazer, The Atlantic, 19 May 2025
  • This discrepancy hindered the adoption of BI, which might further damage AI by generating models that are trained with false assumptions and generate erroneous predictions.
    Artyom Keydunov, Forbes.com, 19 May 2025
Adjective
  • 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
  • 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

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Cite this Entry

“Fickle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fickle. Accessed 24 May. 2025.

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