Flicker vs Fickle - What's the difference?
flicker | fickle |
An unsteady flash of light.
A short moment.
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=8 (lb) To burn or shine unsteadily. To burn or shine with a wavering light.
* (1809-1892)
*:The shadows flicker to and fro.
*
*:Long after his cigar burnt bitter, he sat with eyes fixed on the blaze. When the flames at last began to flicker and subside, his lids fluttered, then drooped; but he had lost all reckoning of time when he opened them again to find Miss Erroll in furs and ball-gown kneeling on the hearth and heaping kindling on the coals,.
(lb) To keep going on and off; to appear and disappear for short moments; to flutter.
*1898 , , (Moonfleet), Ch.3:
*:There I lay on one side with a thin and rotten plank between the dead man and me, dazed with the blow to my head, and breathing hard; while the glow of torches as they came down the passage reddened and flickered on the roof above.
*1908 , (Kenneth Grahame), (The Wind in the Willows)
*:The ruddy brick floor smiled up at the smoky ceiling; the oaken settles, shiny with long wear, exchanged cheerful glances with each other; plates on the dresser grinned at pots on the shelf, and the merry firelight flickered and played over everything without distinction.
To flutter; to flap the wings without flying.
*(John Dryden) (1631-1700)
*:And flickering on her nest made short essays to sing.
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 deceive; flatter.
To puzzle; perplex; nonplus.
As verbs the difference between flicker and fickle
is that flicker is (lb) to burn or shine unsteadily to burn or shine with a wavering light while fickle is to deceive; flatter.As a noun flicker
is an unsteady flash of light or flicker can be (us) a certain type of small woodpecker, especially of the genus colaptes or flicker can be one who flicks.As an adjective fickle is
quick to change one’s opinion or allegiance; insincere; not loyal or reliable.flicker
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) .Noun
(en noun)citation, passage=It was a casual sneer, obviously one of a long line. There was hatred behind it, but of a quiet, chronic type, nothing new or unduly virulent, and he was taken aback by the flicker of amazed incredulity that passed over the younger man's ravaged face.}}
Verb
(en verb)Etymology 2
1808, American English, probably echoic of the bird's call, or from the white spotted plumage which appears to flicker.See also
* (wikipedia "flicker")Etymology 3
Derived terms
* bean flickerfickle
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)- 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.