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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

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 inconstancy Scientific and engineering advances don't do well in the face of such wild swings and inconstancy. Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 18 Aug. 2025 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 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 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 Over the past 20 years, the United States has undermined its own global leadership by inconstancy. Damon Linker, The Week, 9 June 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inconstancy
Noun
  • Allen, 40, accused her ex-husband of infidelity in various capacities on the 14-track album.
    Lex Goldstein, PEOPLE, 7 Nov. 2025
  • The film centers on Smita, a small-town housewife whose seemingly ordinary life unravels into a narrative exploring infidelity, deceit and moral ambiguity.
    Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 7 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • Many Democrats had hoped that increasing development of alternative power sources, particularly solar and wind, would provide cheaper electricity as renewable energy is not subject to the erratic pricing and market fluctuation dynamics of fossil fuel sources.
    Tom Rogers, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Nov. 2025
  • This could result in small fluctuations in the current of these jets that generate magnetic fields that cause further instability.
    Robert Lea, Space.com, 5 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • As China’s economy has grown, so too has its incidence of adultery.
    Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Unhappy unions loom large in the novel, which teems with adultery.
    Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • This prevents stray heat from disrupting the atoms’ oscillations.
    Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 29 Oct. 2025
  • That’s five times the oscillation degree of our other picks.
    Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 27 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • The former activity can be useful; the latter is a clear betrayal.
    Damon Beres, The Atlantic, 5 Nov. 2025
  • Over the course of eight episodes, the show traces how mounting pressures, deceit and betrayal led to patriarch Alex Murdaugh murdering his wife, Maggie, and their son, Paul, in 2021.
    Brianne Tracy, PEOPLE, 5 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • That shift—from policy disagreement to accusations of disloyalty—is not accidental.
    Faisal Kutty, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Oct. 2025
  • Continue reading … 'DISAPPOINTED' – Biden's son slams Harris memoir for disloyalty to father's administration.
    , FOXNews.com, 23 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • The ignorance, the hubris, the lies, the perfidy.
    Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 2025
  • Their perfidy is memorialized in the English language, though.
    Evan Osnos, New Yorker, 26 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Inconstancy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inconstancy. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.

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