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
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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
-
The post was accompanied by a series of hashtags that included #divorce, #cheating and #infidelity.—
The Athletic MLB Staff,
New York Times,
21 June 2025
-
Creators shared videos about pregnancy horror stories, infidelity and threats of domestic violence, opening up a conversation about how young people use humor as a coping mechanism to talk about traumatic events.—
Rachel Hale,
USA Today,
19 June 2025
Noun
-
CFOs are closely monitoring these fluctuations, though uncertainty about future movements remains high.—
Sheryl Estrada,
Fortune,
17 June 2025
-
Currency fluctuations can significantly impact your investment returns.—
Tom Zachystal,
Forbes.com,
16 June 2025
Noun
-
Every look with such an irregular desire is in our Savior’s opinion a virtual adultery. . . .—
Merve Emre,
New Yorker,
16 June 2025
-
The sixth commandment in Catholic teaching prohibits adultery.—
Ruth Graham,
New York Times,
22 May 2025
Noun
-
Brainwaves, or neural oscillations, are regular patterns created by firing neurons or groups of neurons.—
Eva Amsen,
Forbes.com,
19 May 2025
-
This involved manually disturbing the leg and then releasing it, capturing the resulting oscillations on high-speed video.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
16 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
The tricky thing is that the Jackal, across the 10 episodes, does despicable acts of violence and betrayal in order to achieve his goal.—
Ryan Fleming,
Deadline,
19 June 2025
-
Better to categorize Lacey’s latest as its own genre, a category-defining, creative, thought-provoking piece of literature on loss, betrayal, friendships, faith, and more….Unlike life, there is no beginning or end, just a story that follows its own strange, wild, and mesmerizing pattern.—
Gabrielle Bellot,
Literary Hub,
17 June 2025
Noun
-
More cunningly, this also serves to instill you with guilt: as though refusing to align with their viewpoints equates to a signal of disloyalty.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2025
-
One video aims to appeal to senior Communist Party officials who live in perpetual fear of being snapped up by Xi’s seemingly endless crackdown on corruption and disloyalty.—
Nectar Gan,
CNN Money,
2 May 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 1 Jul. 2025.
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