| 单词 | capricious |
| 释义 | capricious (once / 1316 pages) adj Capricious is an adjective to describe a person or thing that's impulsive and unpredictable, like a bride who suddenly leaves her groom standing at the wedding altar. You can criticize a fickle-minded person as capricious, but it could just as well describe quickly changing weather, as in "capricious spring storms." It's the adjective form of the noun caprice, which means a sudden change of mood. Caprice might come from capra, the Italian word for "goat" (because goats are frisky), or from capo, "head" + riccio, "hedgehog." Why bring hedgehogs into it? If you have a "hedgehog head," you are so scared that your hair is standing straight on end. A scared person makes sudden starts this way and that, just as a capricious person does. WORD FAMILYcapricious: capriciously, capriciousness+/caprice: caprices, capricious USAGE EXAMPLESWith an increasingly bellicose Russia on its doorstep and a capricious ally in U.S. Seattle Times(Dec 27, 2016) Otherwise, the move would also likely be struck down in court as “arbitrary and capricious,” he argued. Washington Post(Dec 22, 2016) Reports are that it’s a capricious process, and no one is sure if there is even a cursory vetting of the choices. Salon(Dec 14, 2016) 1adj determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason a capricious refusal authoritarian rulers are frequently capricious Syn impulsive, whimsical arbitrary based on or subject to individual discretion or preference or sometimes impulse or caprice 2adj changeable a capricious summer breeze Syn freakish unpredictable not capable of being foretold |
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