capricious

English

Etymology

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

Adjective

capricious (comparative more capricious, superlative most capricious)

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

   I almost died in a capricious winter storm.

   Stringent rulers are unlikely to act capriciously.

   The Mayor claimed that the action was reasonable, but in reality the action was arbitrary and capricious in nature.

   • 1877, Henry James, The American:

     "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 he or she makes.

Synonyms

• whimsical
• arbitrary

Antonyms

• conscientious
• rigorous

Derived terms

• 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

• Danish: uberegnelig, uforudsigbar/uforutsigbar, lunefuld
• Dutch: grillig (nl), wispelturig (nl)
• Esperanto: kapricema
• Finnish: oikukas (fi), oikullinen (fi)
• French: capricieux (fr)
• German: kapriziumeös, launenhaft, unberechenbar (de), schrullig (de), launisch (de)
• 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
• Japanese: 気紛れ (kimagure)
• Lithuanian: įnoringas
• Norwegian: uberegnelig, uforutsigbar, lunefull
• Persian: دمدمی‌مزاج‎ (damdami-mezâj)
• Polish: nagły (pl) m, kapryśny (pl)
• Portuguese: impulsivo, 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 (tāmxảp̣hexcı)
• Turkish: kaprisli (tr)

Anagrams

• auriscopic