capricious

capricious
adjective
ca·;pri·;cious k;-;pri-sh;s  -;pr;-
Synonyms of capricious
: governed or characterized by caprice : impulsive, unpredictable
capriciously adverb
capriciousness noun


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Caprice and Capricious

The adjective capricious and its close relation, the noun caprice (a synonym of whim), both come via French from the Italian word capriccio, which has disputed origins. Capriccio originally referred not to a sudden desire but to a sudden shiver of horror and likely comes from the Italian capo, meaning “head,” and riccio, the word for “hedgehog.” The implication was that someone who shuddered in fear or horror was said to have a “hedgehog head,” meaning that the person’s hair stood on end like the spines of a hedgehog. The link between a whim and a shiver of horror is notably tenuous, though, and a possible link to Italian capra, meaning “goat,” has also been suggested, given the whimsy goats seem to employ in their gamboling. (Here is a full treatment of the disputed etymology.) Whatever its origins, capriccio came to mean “whim, fancy,” which directly relates to its uses today. Something done in a capricious manner is done on a whim, as in “a capricious decision to join the circus.”

Synonyms
changeable
changeful
fickle
flickery
fluctuating
fluid
inconsistent
inconstant
mercurial
mutable
skittish
temperamental
uncertain
unpredictable
unsettled
unstable
unsteady
variable
volatile
Choose the Right Synonym for capricious
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
Examples of capricious in a Sentence
… every balloon voyage is a race between capricious winds and the amount of fuel on board.
—Tom Morganthau, Newsweek, 29 Mar. 1999
She is capricious, however, and is said to take bribes and wantonly peddle her influence from time to time.
—Hunter S. Thompson, Rolling Stone, 15 Dec. 1994
Lady Luck is a capricious mother who, as in a recurrent nightmare, always offers, never comes through, and never stops smiling.
—Hugh Drummond, Boston Magazine, November 1989
I don't believe in random occurrences or blind chance, though I know the patterns of this world are capricious and terribly complex.
—Leslie Marmon Silko, letter, 21 Aug. 1979
Recent Examples on the Web
As the evening progressed, chatter from Club members new and old flurried up to the ceiling, drowning any sound of the capricious London weather.
—Eoghan O'Donnell, Vogue, 18 July 2024
Lestat’s capricious behavior escalated into what contemporary viewers could easily identify as spousal abuse.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 1 July 2024
An elegant and provocative account, this slim volume captures the system of arbitrary rules and capricious exemptions on which tyranny, large and small, relies. Loading... Stay informed.
—Alan Mikhail, Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2023
In addition to political uncertainty, organizers have to deal with the capricious weather.
—Joelle Diderich, WWD, 24 June 2024