fair-weather

adjective

fair-weath·​er ˈfer-ˌwe-t͟hər How to pronounce fair-weather (audio)
1
: loyal only during a time of success
a fair-weather friend
2
: suitable for or done during fair weather
a fair-weather sail

Examples of fair-weather in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Please come back my fair-weather friends. — Clarence Schmidt, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 May 2026 Ladies’ first big blowup concerns a rumor that an old fair-weather friend of Myka’s is a madam. — Judy Berman, Time, 27 Mar. 2026 The fair-weather waterspout forms over water. — Paula Wethington, CBS News, 19 June 2026 Currently, the drone’s fuel cell is a fair-weather flier. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 19 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for fair-weather

Word History

First Known Use

1653, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of fair-weather was in 1653

Rhymes for fair-weather

See All Rhymes for fair-weather

Browse Nearby Words

fairway
fair-weather
Fairweather, Mount
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Fair-weather.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fair-weather. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All