Adjacent Words

Inconstant definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

INCON'STANT, a. [L. inconstans.]
1. Mutable; subject to change of opinion, inclination or purpose; not firm in resolution; unsteady; fickle; used of persons; an inconstant in love or friendship.
2. Mutable; changeable; variable; used of things.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: likely to change frequently often without apparent or cogent reason; variable; "inconstant affections"; "an inconstant lover"; "swear not by...the inconstant moon"- Shakespeare [ant: constant]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin inconstant-, inconstans, from in- + constant-, constans constant Date: 15th century likely to change frequently without apparent or cogent reason • inconstantly adverb Synonyms: inconstant, fickle, capricious, mercurial, unstable mean lacking firmness or steadiness (as in purpose or devotion). inconstant implies an incapacity for steadiness and an inherent tendency to change <an inconstant friend>. fickle suggests unreliability because of perverse changeability and incapacity for steadfastness <performers discover how fickle fans can be>. capricious suggests motivation by sudden whim or fancy and stresses unpredictability <an utterly capricious critic>. mercurial implies a rapid changeability in mood <made anxious by her boss's mercurial temperament>. 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>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 (of a person) fickle, changeable. 2 frequently changing; variable, irregular. Derivatives: inconstancy n. (pl. -ies). inconstantly adv. Etymology: ME f. OF f. L inconstans -antis (as IN-(1), CONSTANT)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Inconstant In*con"stant, a. [L. inconstans: cf. F. inconstant. See In- not, and Constant.] Not constant; not stable or uniform; subject to change of character, appearance, opinion, inclination, or purpose, etc.; not firm; unsteady; fickle; changeable; variable; -- said of persons or things; as, inconstant in love or friendship. ``The inconstant moon.'' --Shak. While we, inquiring phantoms of a day, Inconstant as the shadows we survey! --Boyse. Syn: Mutable; fickle; volatile; unsteady; unstable; changeable; variable; wavering; fluctuating.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. [Said of persons.] 1. Changeable, mutable, variable, unsettled, fickle, capricious, vacillating, wavering, unsteady, volatile, mercurial, like a weathercock. 2. [Said of things.] Unstable, mutable, variable, unsettled, uncertain.

Moby Thesaurus

adrift, afloat, alternating, amorphous, brittle, broken, capricious, careening, catchy, changeable, changeful, changing, choppy, coquettish, corruptible, deciduous, derelict, desultory, deviable, deviating, deviative, deviatory, different, disaffected, disconnected, discontinuous, disloyal, disorderly, disregardful, divaricate, divergent, diversified, diversiform, dizzy, dying, eccentric, elusive, ephemeral, erose, erratic, evanescent, faddish, fading, faithless, false, fast and loose, fickle, fitful, fleeting, flickering, flighty, flirtatious, flitting, fluctuating, fly-by-night, flying, fragile, frail, freakish, fugacious, fugitive, giddy, guttering, halting, herky-jerky, heteroclite, immethodical, impermanent, impetuous, impulsive, inattentive, inconsistent, indecisive, indefinite, infirm, inobservant, insubstantial, intermittent, intermitting, irregular, irresolute, irresponsible, jagged, jerky, light, lubricious, lurching, mazy, mercurial, momentary, moody, mortal, motley, mutable, negligent, nonadherent, noncompliant, nonconforming, nonconformist, nondurable, nonobservant, nonpermanent, nonstandard, nonuniform, not true to, of bad faith, passing, patchy, perishable, pluralistic, protean, quicksilver, ragged, rambling, recreant, restless, rough, roving, scatterbrained, scrappy, shapeless, shifting, shifty, short-lived, shuffling, skittish, snatchy, spasmatic, spasmic, spasmodic, spastic, spineless, sporadic, spotty, staggering, temperamental, temporal, temporary, ticklish, toying, transient, transitive, transitory, trothless, unaccountable, uncertain, uncompliant, unconforming, uncontrolled, undependable, undisciplined, undurable, unenduring, unequable, unequal, uneven, unfaithful, unfixed, unloyal, unmethodical, unmetrical, unobservant, unorthodox, unpredictable, unregular, unreliable, unrestrained, unrhythmical, unsettled, unstable, unstable as water, unstaid, unsteadfast, unsteady, unsystematic, untrue, ununiform, vacillating, vagrant, vague, variable, variegated, variform, various, varying, veering, versatile, vicissitudinary, vicissitudinous, volatile, wandering, wanton, wavering, wavery, wavy, wayward, whimsical, wishy-washy, wobbling, wobbly