fickle
- 01 C1 Advanced
likely to change suddenly and unexpectedly, like the weather.
subject to sudden or unpredictable change; often applied to weather, fortune, or fate.
Simple“We cancelled the hike because the mountain weather is too fickle in the spring.”
In context“The sailors were wary of the fickle winds, which could shift from a gentle breeze to a gale without warning.”
SynonymsAntonyms
“In a place known for its fickle weather, eclipse watchers took a risk.”
“August results may be notoriously fickle and this may seem like years ago by November, but the win was no fluke.”
From Middle English fikil, fikel, from Old English ficol (“fickle, cunning, tricky, deceitful”), equivalent to fike + -le. More at fike.
From Middle English fikelen, from fikel (“fickle”); see above. Cognate with Low German fikkelen (“to deceive, flatter”), German ficklen, ficheln (“to deceive, flatter”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.