fickle

adjective

ˈfi-kəl How to pronounce fickle (audio)
Definition of ficklenext
1
as in volatile
likely to change frequently, suddenly, or unexpectedly a fickle friendship that was on and off over the years

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in traitorous
not true in one's allegiance to someone or something when the family's fortune disappeared, so did their fickle friends

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective fickle differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of fickle are capricious, inconstant, mercurial, and unstable. While all these words mean "lacking firmness or steadiness (as in purpose or devotion)," fickle suggests unreliability because of perverse changeability and incapacity for steadfastness.

performers discover how fickle fans can be

In what contexts can capricious take the place of fickle?

In some situations, the words capricious and fickle are roughly equivalent. However, capricious suggests motivation by sudden whim or fancy and stresses unpredictability.

an utterly capricious critic

When could inconstant be used to replace fickle?

The meanings of inconstant and fickle largely overlap; however, inconstant implies an incapacity for steadiness and an inherent tendency to change.

an inconstant friend

When is mercurial a more appropriate choice than fickle?

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

made anxious by her boss's mercurial temperament

When might unstable be a better fit than fickle?

The synonyms unstable and fickle are sometimes interchangeable, 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 fickle She was worn down by Hollywood’s faux interest in her talent and the fickle nature with which casting directors operated. — Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 27 Sep. 2026 OpenAI turned out to be fickle to the point of being erratic. — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 27 Sep. 2026 Combs knows all too well how fickle the general public can be, and how swiftly sympathy can ping-pong from one side to the other. — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 21 Sep. 2026 Relievers are notoriously fickle, but the investment in Miller has yielded ongoing dominance. — Jayson Stark, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for fickle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fickle
  1. volatile
  2. traitorous
  3. unpredictable
  4. unreliable
  5. treacherous
  6. false
  7. inconstant
Adjective
  • Instead, the name of the game is to create pockets of stability in an inherently volatile business.
    — Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Targeting a smaller raise could protect a higher valuation, but might trigger skepticism over how the AI firm will fund its massive infrastructure needs in a volatile bond market.
    — Justin Zacks, CNBC, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of volatile
Adjective
  • Telemachus’ lone contribution is killing Melanthius, the traitorous Ithacan farmhand, thus preventing him from continuing to arm the suitors.
    — Marlow Stern, Variety, 17 July 2026
  • And at the very center of Hell is Satan himself, the traitorous Archangel Lucifer, depicted as a monstrous creature with wings and three heads.
    — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 11 May 2026
Definition of traitorous
Adjective
  • Holy Cross and the Lower Ninth Ward that borders it are known for their quiet ambiance, grocery store deserts, and drawbridge access with unpredictable hours.
    — Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Frost leaves orchard with few apples to harvest The unpredictable weather has forced the farm to adjust to get through the season.
    — Tara Lynch, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of unpredictable
Adjective
  • Yet, the company’s machines really could only perform a limited number of tests and often produced unreliable results.
    — Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Potential applications include autonomous drones, submarines and other vehicles operating in environments where satellite navigation is unreliable.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of unreliable
Adjective
  • Time is running out for a Republican Party led astray by a president whose treacherous behavior mimics those assigned to the lowest level of Dante’s hell.
    — Bob Kustra, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Russell doesn’t traffick in any of that, and screenwriter Christopher Logue refuses to pathologize the two, focusing instead on the untamed beauty of their relationship, which was romantic, familiar, treacherous, and pure.
    — Juan A. Ramírez, Vulture, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of treacherous
Adjective
  • Experts worry federal law enforcement could potentially use those false claims — or others generated this year — as pretext to try to seize ballots during the counting period, or interfere in the process in some other way.
    — Miles Parks, NPR, 22 Oct. 2026
  • The false polling data from Wedgewood Polls consistently favored Democrats, particularly progressive candidates.
    — Hailey Bullis, The Washington Examiner, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of false
Adjective
  • But there’s another inconstant element on Flagler that neither the city nor its agencies have any control over.
    — Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Each one grew up in a home that required her to curry favor with volatile and inconstant parents—a menacing father figure, a recessive and enabling mother—and each found a fragile safety in her caretakers’ occasional good will.
    — Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026
Definition of inconstant

Browse Nearby Words

fibs
fickle
fickleness
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Fickle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fickle. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of grotesque

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

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

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

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
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
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All