1
as in infidelity
lack of faithfulness especially to one's husband or wife
a wife who was long inured to the chronic inconstancy of her husband
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in fluctuation
the frequent and usually sudden passing from one condition to another
the inconstancy of public opinion is such that today's hero may be tomorrow's punching bag
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of inconstancy
Europeans, awakened to the danger of American inconstancy, are scrambling to spend trillions more on defense in coming years.
—
Adam Rasmi, Time, 20 June 2025
Years of naval inconstancy with repair work drove Vigor Industrial—a once vibrant and growing maritime conglomerate—into the welcoming arms of hedge funds, which wasted no time in striping the company of value.
—Craig Hooper, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024
In the nineteen-nineties and two-thousands, as the center-left was evolving, the label was most effectively applied to those telegenic figures—Bill and Hillary Clinton, Tony Blair, John Edwards—who were suspected of ideological inconstancy and of substituting polls for principles.
—Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2022
But, in the hands of the Fleet Foxes, the pastoral feels less like a particular zone in time and more like a space in which to parse ideas of self-reliance, the inconstancy of love, the pain of intimacy, the fear of loss, the sting of betrayal, and the strange but urgent project of hope.
—Brandon Taylor, The New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2022
Here, Calabazas appears to be holding a toy windmill in one hand and, in the other, a miniature portrait of a woman, perhaps intended by Velázquez as a commentary on the inconstancy of love.
—Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2023
Due to his inconstancy and Angie’s growing attachment, their flimsy relationship operated on a timescale of eras coalescing into matters of historical record.
—Hannah Gold, Harper’s Magazine , 26 Oct. 2022
Over the past 20 years, the United States has undermined its own global leadership by inconstancy.
—Damon Linker, The Week, 9 June 2021
An acidic trickle of disenchantment, especially regarding Bellow’s inconstancy with women and family, runs through it.
—David Remnick, The New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2021
Adam Rasmi, Time, 20 June 2025
Years of naval inconstancy with repair work drove Vigor Industrial—a once vibrant and growing maritime conglomerate—into the welcoming arms of hedge funds, which wasted no time in striping the company of value.
—Craig Hooper, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024
In the nineteen-nineties and two-thousands, as the center-left was evolving, the label was most effectively applied to those telegenic figures—Bill and Hillary Clinton, Tony Blair, John Edwards—who were suspected of ideological inconstancy and of substituting polls for principles.
—Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2022
But, in the hands of the Fleet Foxes, the pastoral feels less like a particular zone in time and more like a space in which to parse ideas of self-reliance, the inconstancy of love, the pain of intimacy, the fear of loss, the sting of betrayal, and the strange but urgent project of hope.
—Brandon Taylor, The New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2022
Here, Calabazas appears to be holding a toy windmill in one hand and, in the other, a miniature portrait of a woman, perhaps intended by Velázquez as a commentary on the inconstancy of love.
—Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2023
Due to his inconstancy and Angie’s growing attachment, their flimsy relationship operated on a timescale of eras coalescing into matters of historical record.
—Hannah Gold, Harper’s Magazine , 26 Oct. 2022
Over the past 20 years, the United States has undermined its own global leadership by inconstancy.
—Damon Linker, The Week, 9 June 2021
An acidic trickle of disenchantment, especially regarding Bellow’s inconstancy with women and family, runs through it.
—David Remnick, The New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inconstancy
Noun
-
What follows is a hilarious account of infatuation and infidelity from the point of view of Roberta, a graduate student who has it bad for Simone, her utterly chic — and married — writing professor.—
Jasmine Vojdani,
Vulture,
1 Aug. 2025
-
One of the major causes of broken trust between partners is infidelity, but breaches of trust can happen for many other reasons.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
31 July 2025
Noun
-
This significantly reduces the risk of near-term revenue fluctuations and reinforces InterDigital’s intellectual property strength in mobile, video, and AI standards.—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
4 Aug. 2025
-
Fun fact: Women’s monthly hormonal fluctuations are one reason why women (and even female mice) haven’t always been included in medical or exercise science research.—
Cindy Kuzma,
SELF,
31 July 2025
Noun
-
No, there is no Texas law against cheating on your spouse, but it could be considered adultery.—
Brayden Garcia,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
18 July 2025
-
The public sees divorce and adultery in different moral terms, largely viewing divorce as morally acceptable in every Gallup question since the organization began asking about it in 2001.—
Karlyn Bowman,
Forbes.com,
16 July 2025
Noun
-
But scientists had never before been able to measure the oscillation of the magnetic moment of single protons or antiprotons—or of any other fundamental particles.—
Clara Moskowitz,
Scientific American,
28 July 2025
-
Atomic clocks count the oscillations of atoms held in a vacuum chamber within the clock itself to calculate 24 hours to the utmost degree of precision.—
Jacopo Prisco,
CNN Money,
21 July 2025
Noun
-
Keating said this was nothing but a disgusting betrayal that the U.S. government would not take care of those people who took care of them.—
Livi Stanford,
Hartford Courant,
6 Aug. 2025
-
As Morgan’s teenage daughter Clara (Grace) is falling in love for the first time with Miller (Thames), the duo must face tragedy and uncover new betrayals after Morgan’s husband (Scott Eastwood) dies in a car accident with her sister Jenny.—
Brittany Spanos,
Rolling Stone,
5 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
In March, Justice Barrett joined Justice John Roberts and the liberal justices in blocking President Donald Trump’s effort to freeze $2 billion in U.S. Agency for International Development funds, prompting fierce backlash from Make America Great Again conservatives who saw it as disloyalty.—
Heather Hunter,
The Washington Examiner,
28 July 2025
-
Leaders can flip this narrative by framing reporting as an act of strength and loyalty, not disloyalty.—
Rhett Power,
Forbes.com,
6 July 2025
Noun
-
Their perfidy is memorialized in the English language, though.—
Evan Osnos,
New Yorker,
26 May 2025
-
The prior month, Vice President JD Vance had lodged his own complaints about Europe’s alleged perfidy, threatening that the United States might withdraw its security guarantees from Europe if the EU continued to aggressively regulate U.S. tech companies.—
ANU BRADFORD,
Foreign Affairs,
21 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Inconstancy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inconstancy. Accessed 14 Aug. 2025.
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