capricious

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French capricieux, from Italian capriccioso, from capriccio.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kəˈpɹɪʃəs/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ɪʃəs

Adjective

capricious (comparative more capricious, superlative most capricious)

1. Impulsive and unpredictable; determined by chance, impulse, or whim.

   Synonyms: arbitrary, whimsical, fickle

   Antonyms: conscientious, rigorous

   I almost died in a capricious winter storm.

   Stringent rulers are unlikely to act capriciously.

   • c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], page 198:

     I am heere with thee, and thy Goats, as the moſt capricious Poet honeſt Ouid was among Gothes.

   • 1876 June, Henry James, Jr., chapter I, in The American, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, […], published 5 May 1877, →OCLC, page 11:

     "Capricious?" And at this monsieur began to laugh. "Oh no, I'm not capricious. I am very faithful. I am very constant. Comprenez?"

Usage notes

• Capricious can describe both a person and the decisions they make.

Derived terms

• arbitrary and capricious
• capriciously

Related terms

• caprice

Translations

impulsive and unpredictable; determined by chance, impulse, or whim

• Breton: froudennek (br)
• Bulgarian: капризен (bg) (kaprizen), непостоянен (bg) (nepostojanen), непредвидим (nepredvidim)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 反复无常的, 善变的, 任性的

• Czech: rozmarný (cs), vrtošivý, vrtkavý (cs), kapriciózní
• Danish: uberegnelig, uforudsigbar/uforutsigbar, lunefuld
• Dutch: grillig (nl), wispelturig (nl)
• Esperanto: kapricema
• Finnish: oikukas (fi), oikullinen (fi)
• French: capricieux (fr)
• Georgian: ჭირვეული (č̣irveuli), ახირებული (axirebuli), თვითრჯული (tvitrǯuli), თავნება (tavneba)
• German: kapriziös (de), launenhaft, unberechenbar (de), schrullig (de), launisch (de)
• Hindi: तरंगी (hi) (taraṅgī), झक्की (hi) (jhakkī), सनकी (hi) (sankī), मौजी (hi) (maujī), मन-चला (man-calā), मुतलव्विन (mutlavvin)
• Hungarian: szeszélyes (hu)
• Icelandic: duttlungasamur m, mislyndur (is) m, kenjóttur (is) m, dyntóttur m, duttlungafullur m
• Indonesian: sulit diduga, licin (id), licik (id)
• Irish: meonúil
• Italian: capriccioso (it)
• Japanese: 気紛れ (ja) (kimagure)
• Latin: inconstans
• Lithuanian: įnoringas
• Macedonian: непо́стојан (nepóstojan), каприцио́зен (kapriciózen), непре́двидлив (neprédvidliv)
• Maltese: kapriċċuż
• Norwegian: uberegnelig, uforutsigbar, lunefull
• Persian: دمدمی‌مزاج (damdami-mezâj)
• Polish: nagły (pl) m, kapryśny (pl)
• Portuguese: impulsivo (pt), imprevisível (pt), caprichoso (pt)
• Romanian: capricios (ro)
• Russian: капризный (ru) m (kapriznyj)
• Spanish: caprichoso (es), antojadizo (es)
• Swedish: oberäknelig (sv), oförutsägbar (sv), nyckfull (sv)
• Thai: ตามอำเภอใจ (th) (tāmxảp̣hexcı)
• Turkish: kaprisli (tr)

Further reading

• “capricious”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• capricious in Britannica Dictionary
• “capricious” in Moby Thesaurus II, Grady Ward, 1996.
• capricious, whimsical, arbitrary, fickle at Google Ngram Viewer

Anagrams

• auriscopic