fickle

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word fickle. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word fickle, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say fickle in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word fickle you have here. The definition of the word fickle will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition offickle, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: Fickle

English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈfɪk.əl/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪkəl

Etymology 1

From Middle English fikil, fikel, from Old English ficol (“fickle, cunning, tricky, deceitful”), equivalent to fike +‎ -le. More at fike.

Adjective

fickle (comparative fickler or more fickle, superlative ficklest or most fickle)

  1. Quick to change one’s opinion or allegiance; insincere; not loyal or reliable.
    • c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 69:
      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.
    • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, , →OCLC, Canto XXVI, page 43:
      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.
    • 2010, James Murphy (lyrics and music), “Home”, in This Is Happening, performed by LCD Soundsystem:
      As night has such a local ring / And love and rock are fickle things
  2. (figurative) Changeable.
    • 2014, Paul Salopek, Blessed. Cursed. Claimed., National Geographic (December 2014)
      To the south, the vast geometrical deserts of Arabian nomads, a redoubt of feral movement, of fickle winds, of open space, of saddle leather—home to the wild Bedouin tribes.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

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

Verb

fickle (third-person singular simple present fickles, present participle fickling, simple past and past participle fickled)

  1. (transitive) To deceive, flatter.
  2. (transitive, UK dialectal) To puzzle, perplex, nonplus.

Anagrams

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia