different between fickle vs irresponsible

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?f?k.?l/
• Rhymes: -?k?l

Etymology 1

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

Adjective

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)[1]

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

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

Verb

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.

Anagrams

• Fickel

English

Etymology

From ir- +? responsible.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /??r??sp?ns?bl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?r??sp?ns?b?l/

Adjective

irresponsible (comparative more irresponsible, superlative most irresponsible)

1. (now rare) Not responsible; exempt from legal responsibility, not to be held accountable.
   • 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, Oxford 2009, p. 28:

     They left the crown what, in the eye and estimation of law, it had ever been, perfectly irresponsible.

2. Lacking a sense of responsibility; performed or acting as though without responsibility; negligent.

Translations

Noun

irresponsible (plural irresponsibles)

1. Someone who is not responsible.

References

• irresponsible in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• irresponsible in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

See also

• unresponsive