mercurial
adjective /mɜːˈkjʊəriəl/
/mɜːrˈkjʊriəl/
- (literary) often changing or reacting in a way that is unexpected synonym volatile
- Emily's mercurial temperament made her difficult to live with.
- Advertising is a mercurial business.
- (literary) lively and quick
- a brilliant, mercurial mind
- (specialist) containing mercury
- mercurial compounds
Word Originlate Middle English (referring to something of the planet Mercury): from Latin mercurialis ‘relating to the god Mercury’, from Mercurius ‘Mercury’. Senses (1) and (2) date from the mid 17th cent.