mercurial
What does mercurial mean?
Changing mood quickly and unpredictably.
Mercurial, six ways
How to pronounce mercurial
mer-KYOOR-ee-ul/mərˈkjʊriəl/
Mercurial in a sentence
- The director was brilliant but mercurial.
- Our mercurial boss loved the plan on Monday and hated it by Wednesday.
- Mercurial talents are thrilling and exhausting to work with.
Synonyms for mercurial
- volatileLiable to explode.
- capriciousChanges for no reason.
- temperamentalMoody, often with demands.
Capricious vs mercurial: Capricious changes without reason. Mercurial changes fast, mood first. The difference, in plain English.
Where mercurial comes from
After Mercury, the swift messenger of the Roman gods. People born under his planet were thought lively and changeable, and the metal that will not stay still took his name too.
Good to know
Named for Mercury, the quick messenger god, and the metal that runs like water. It suggests quick, lively changes of mood.
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Words like mercurial
petulant · anachronism · querulous · mondegreen · mellifluous · reverie · All 110 words
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