inconstant

• POS: Adjective
• HYPHEN: in=con=stant

CIDE DICTIONARY

inconstant, 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.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
"While we, inquiring phantoms of a day,
Inconstant as the shadows we survey!"

Syn. -- Mutable; fickle; volatile; unsteady; unstable; changeable; variable; wavering; fluctuating.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

inconstant, adj.
1 (of a person) fickle, changeable.
2 frequently changing; variable, irregular.

Derivative

inconstancy n. (pl. -ies). inconstantly adv.

Etymology

ME f. OF f. L inconstans -antis (as IN-(1), CONSTANT)

THESAURUS

inconstant

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

ROGET THESAURUS

inconstant

Changeableness

N changeableness, mutability, inconstancy, versatility, mobility, instability, unstable equilibrium, vacillation, fluctuation, vicissitude, alternation, restlessness, fidgets, disquiet, disquietude, inquietude, unrest, agitation, moon, Proteus, chameleon, quicksilver, shifting sands, weathercock, harlequin, Cynthia of the minute, April showers, wheel of Fortune, transientness, changeable, changeful, changing, mutable, variable, checkered, ever changing, protean, proteiform, versatile, unstaid, inconstant, unsteady, unstable, unfixed, unsettled, fluctuating, restless, agitated, erratic, fickle, irresolute, capricious, touch and go, inconsonant, fitful, spasmodic, vibratory, vagrant, wayward, desultory, afloat, alternating, alterable, plastic, mobile, transient, wavering, seesaw, off and on, a rolling stone gathers no moss, pictra mossa non fa muschis, honores mutant mores, varium et mutabile semper femina.