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fickle

adj
/ˈfɪk.əl/

Etymology

From Middle English fikelen, from fikel (“fickle”); see above. Cognate with Low German fikkelen (“to deceive, flatter”), German ficklen, ficheln (“to deceive, flatter”).

  1. inherited from ficol
  2. inherited from fikil

Definitions

  1. Quick to change one’s opinion or allegiance

    Quick to change one’s opinion or allegiance; insincere; not loyal or reliable.

    • O Fortune, Fortune, all men call thee fickle, / If thou art fickle, what doſt thou with him / That is renown'd for faith? be fickle Fortune: / For then I hope thou wilt not keepe him long, / But ſend him backe.
    • Still onward winds the dreary way; ⁠I with it; for I long to prove ⁠No lapse of moons can canker Love, Whatever fickle tongues may say.
    • As night has such a local ring / And love and rock are fickle things

  2. Changeable.

    • fickle breeze
    • fickle stock market

  3. To deceive, flatter.

  4. ›+ 2 more definitions

    1. To puzzle, perplex, nonplus.

    2. A surname.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at fickle. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01fickle02opinion03estimation04regard05steady

A definitional loop anchored at fickle. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

5 hops · closes at fickle

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA