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Fickle vs Screwy - What's the difference?

fickle | screwy |

As adjectives the difference between fickle and screwy

is that fickle is quick to change one’s opinion or allegiance; insincere; not loyal or reliable while screwy is (informal) crazy; silly; ridiculous; insane; demented; unreasonable.

As a verb fickle

is to deceive; flatter.

fickle

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) fikil, fikil, from (etyl) {{term, ficol, , fickle, cunning, tricky , deceitful, lang=ang}}, equivalent to . More at (l).

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • Quick to change one’s opinion or allegiance; insincere; not loyal or reliable.
  • (figurative) changeable
  • * 2014, (Paul Salopek), Blessed. Cursed. Claimed. , National Geographic (December 2014)[http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/12/pilgrim-roads/salopek-text]
    • 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.
    Derived terms
    * (l) * (l)

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) fikelen, from .

    Verb

    (fickl)
  • To deceive; flatter.
  • To puzzle; perplex; nonplus.

    • screwy

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • (informal) Crazy; silly; ridiculous; insane; demented; unreasonable.
    • That's a screwy idea; I am not going to fly all the way to Antarctica just to see a penguin!
  • (archaic, informal) Tipsy; slightly drunk.

    • Quotations

    * 1840 , Hal of the West. Brilliant run with the Puckeridge hounds. The Sporting Magazine. March, 1840. Vol XX, No 119. p383 *:" I saw my hearty out of the yard, with his pink peeping out of his Macintosh, on his screwy old black horse, and I heard from my fair waiter that he had been vaunting that he would lick us all into fits." * 1868 , Memorials of a theological college. London: Houlston & Wright. 1868. p9 *:"A tipsy man," said Spearman, "is generally noisy ; and I confess I was screwy on Wednesday." * 1877 , Edward Peacock, English Dialect Society. A glossary of words used in the wapentakes of Manley and Corringham. London: Trubner & Co. 1877. p120 *:"Screwy [skroo'i], adj. mean ; stingy ; parsimonious. Alto, slightly intoxicated."

    Related terms

    * have a screw loose * screwball * screw up