fickle

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɪk.əl/

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• Rhymes: -ɪkəl

From Middle English fikil, fikil, from Old English ficol (“fickle, cunning, tricky, deceitful”), equivalent to fike +‎ -le. More at fike.

fickle (comparative fickler or more fickle, superlative ficklest or most fickle)

1. Quick to change one’s opinion or allegiance; insincere; not loyal or reliable.
2. (figuratively) changeable
   • 2014, Paul Salopek, Blessed. Cursed. Claimed., National Geographic (December 2014)

     To the south, the vast geometrical deserts of Arabian nomads, a redoubt of feral movement, of fickle winds, of open space, of saddle leather—home to the wild Bedouin tribes.

From Middle English fikelen, from fikel (“fickle”); see above. Cognate with Low German fikkelen (“to deceive, flatter”), German ficklen, ficheln (“to deceive, flatter”).

fickle (third-person singular simple present fickles, present participle fickling, simple past and past participle fickled)

1. (transitive) To deceive, flatter.
2. (transitive, Britain dialectal) To puzzle, perplex, nonplus.

• Fickel