Definition of inconstantnext
1
2

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective inconstant differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of inconstant are capricious, fickle, mercurial, and unstable. While all these words mean "lacking firmness or steadiness (as in purpose or devotion)," inconstant implies an incapacity for steadiness and an inherent tendency to change.

an inconstant friend

When could capricious be used to replace inconstant?

The meanings of capricious and inconstant largely overlap; however, capricious suggests motivation by sudden whim or fancy and stresses unpredictability.

an utterly capricious critic

Where would fickle be a reasonable alternative to inconstant?

While in some cases nearly identical to inconstant, fickle suggests unreliability because of perverse changeability and incapacity for steadfastness.

performers discover how fickle fans can be

When can mercurial be used instead of inconstant?

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

made anxious by her boss's mercurial temperament

When would unstable be a good substitute for inconstant?

The words unstable and inconstant can be used in similar contexts, 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 inconstant The self is a shifting, inconstant phenomenon, brain and body ever transforming in time and space, with no clear delineation between what is self and what is other. Lauren Groff, The Atlantic, 20 Aug. 2025 If the United States is an unreliable partner and a source of chaos these countries will turn elsewhere, building new security and trade alliances that don’t depend on the inconstant, waning superpower. Lydia Polgreen, Mercury News, 27 May 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 The key finding is that as the distance grows greater, the coupling stops growing, and the inconstant constant becomes constant once more. Stanley J. Brodsky, Scientific American, 16 Apr. 2024 See All Example Sentences for inconstant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inconstant
Adjective
  • It's been an eventful first month on the job for Pat Lyons, the new athletic director at the University of Rhode Island, who takes the reins in Kingston during a volatile time in college sports, with the billions of dollars available in media rights turning the NCAA into a conduit for big business.
    Kathleen Hill, The Providence Journal, 11 Apr. 2026
  • Flying is the company’s second Nova-C lander named Athena featuring NASA’s PRIME-1 drill, to land a drill and mass spectrometer near the south pole of the moon in order to demonstrate the feasibility of in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) and measure the volatile content of subsurface samples.
    Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Russell fabricates a lie with the rest of the villains, and the heroes believe it, despite a warning from one traitorous tribemate.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Dec. 2025
  • That video drew the ire of President Donald Trump, who deemed it traitorous.
    Mike Wall, Space.com, 25 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • But home equity loan rates are fixed, which is an advantageous feature in today's economy, in which interest rate movements are unpredictable.
    Matt Richardson, CBS News, 14 Apr. 2026
  • Social occasions might be unpredictable with cancellations or surprise invitations.
    Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 14 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • With Washington perceived as an increasingly unreliable protector, the Gulf states may seek greater security and economic cooperation elsewhere.
    Jeffrey Taliaferro, The Conversation, 11 Apr. 2026
  • An attendant might be unusually friendly and efficient, or check out your car, which was probably fairly unreliable at the time.
    Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 11 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Rigorous, blustery winter; winding sleety spring; hot, moist enervating summer; changeful autumn with its dog-days; these are absolutely unknown.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Jan. 2023
  • Hers is the kind of face that inspires directors to tight framing — gleaming, as if smoothed from marble, and yet somehow pliant, changeful.
    Jordan Kisner Jack Davison, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2022
Adjective
  • For me, the possible false note lay not in Aramayo’s performance but in the script.
    Justin Chang, New Yorker, 17 Apr. 2026
  • Local police too, have stated that false posts circulating in WhatsApp groups, including claims of worker deaths and exaggerated reports of violence and arrests, have contributed to the escalation of unrest.
    Mayu Saini, Footwear News, 17 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • This progress addresses the requirement for high oxidation states, which typically makes material growth unstable under conditions that allow for superconductivity.
    Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 17 Apr. 2026
  • Her very reliable and efficient assistant Eunice (Seoyeon Jang) stands by her side but curries the jealous attention of unstable Ashley.
    Randy Myers, Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • After navigating the treacherous play-in round the past three years to make it to the playoffs, and even the NBA Finals in 2023, the Heat’s run of six consecutive seasons in the playoffs is over.
    Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 15 Apr. 2026
  • For truckers, that stretch of New Orleans East had become an asphalt Bermuda Triangle—a treacherous gantlet best avoided.
    Patrick Radden Keefe, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Inconstant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inconstant. Accessed 20 Apr. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster