dict_dl/en_MerriamWebster/fic_MW.json

{
  "fickle":{
    "antonyms":[
      "certain",
      "changeless",
      "constant",
      "immutable",
      "invariable",
      "predictable",
      "settled",
      "stable",
      "stationary",
      "steady",
      "unchangeable",
      "unchanging",
      "unvarying"
    ],
    "definitions":{
      ": marked by lack of steadfastness, constancy, or stability : given to erratic changeableness":[]
    },
    "examples":[
      "The Weak will suck up to the Strong, for fear of losing their jobs and their money and all the fickle power they wielded only twenty-four hours ago. \u2014 Hunter S. Thompson , Rolling Stone , 11 Nov. 2004",
      "The corporate fan who has replaced the core fan is a fickle beast, choosy about which games he'll use his precious free time to attend. \u2014 E. M. Swift , Sports Illustrated , 15 May 2000",
      "A failed play was a denial of what Odets was owed, for he was chasing the public no differently than did his bourgeois and nonrevolutionary contemporaries, a public as fickle as it always was and is. \u2014 Arthur Miller , Harper's , March 1999",
      "War is like hard-drug abuse or a fickle lover, an apparently contradictory bolt of compulsion, agony and ecstasy that draws you back in the face of better judgment time and time again. \u2014 Anthony Loyd , My War Gone By , 1999",
      "He blames poor sales on fickle consumers.",
      "a fickle friendship that was on and off over the years",
      "Recent Examples on the Web",
      "Still, the experience of EU aspirants from the Balkans has shown in recent years that the accession path can be fickle and that a single EU member state can stall a candidate\u2019s progress. \u2014 Laurence Norman, WSJ , 17 June 2022",
      "Big-time riders, especially as the Derby approaches, can be fickle and leave you for a higher-profile horse. \u2014 New York Times , 9 June 2022",
      "Fashion is fickle , but the ugly-chic shoe has been all the rage for years now. \u2014 Christian Allaire, Vogue , 2 June 2022",
      "The sudden wipeout of an entire, lucrative sector alarmed investors and reinforced the perception that regulations in China were fickle . \u2014 Pei Lin Wu, Washington Post , 16 May 2022",
      "MacLaughlin reimagines these tales in a mixture of modern and ancient settings, focusing on those whose bodies were transformed as the result of gods\u2019 fickle whims and murderous rages. \u2014 Lorraine Berry, Los Angeles Times , 28 Sep. 2021",
      "The cycling world can be a fickle one, so use that to your advantage. \u2014 Eben Weiss, Outside Online , 2 June 2022",
      "Still, quality matters more than fickle trends, says Warda Bouduettaya, pastry chef and owner of Detroit\u2019s Warda P\u00e2tisserie. \u2014 Ali Francis, Bon App\u00e9tit , 1 June 2022",
      "Skylar, who is wise beyond her years about the short shelf life of pop music and the fickle nature of young fans, isn\u2019t so sure. \u2014 George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune , 19 May 2022"
    ],
    "first_known_use":{
      "13th century, in the meaning defined above":""
    },
    "history_and_etymology":{
      "Middle English fikel deceitful, inconstant, from Old English ficol deceitful; akin to Old English be fician to deceive, and probably to Old English f\u0101h hostile \u2014 more at foe":""
    },
    "pronounciation":[
      "\u02c8fi-k\u0259l"
    ],
    "synonym_discussion":"Choose the Right Synonym for fickle inconstant , fickle , capricious , mercurial , unstable mean lacking firmness or steadiness (as in purpose or devotion). inconstant implies an incapacity for steadiness and an inherent tendency to change. an inconstant friend fickle suggests unreliability because of perverse changeability and incapacity for steadfastness. performers discover how fickle fans can be capricious suggests motivation by sudden whim or fancy and stresses unpredictability. an utterly capricious critic mercurial implies a rapid changeability in mood. made anxious by her boss's mercurial temperament unstable implies an incapacity for remaining in a fixed position or steady course and applies especially to a lack of emotional balance. too unstable to hold a job",
    "synonyms":[
      "capricious",
      "changeable",
      "changeful",
      "flickery",
      "fluctuating",
      "fluid",
      "inconsistent",
      "inconstant",
      "mercurial",
      "mutable",
      "skittish",
      "temperamental",
      "uncertain",
      "unpredictable",
      "unsettled",
      "unstable",
      "unsteady",
      "variable",
      "volatile"
    ],
    "time_of_retrieval":"20220706-193252",
    "type":[
      "adjective",
      "adverb",
      "noun"
    ]
  },
  "fickleness":{
    "antonyms":[
      "certain",
      "changeless",
      "constant",
      "immutable",
      "invariable",
      "predictable",
      "settled",
      "stable",
      "stationary",
      "steady",
      "unchangeable",
      "unchanging",
      "unvarying"
    ],
    "definitions":{
      ": marked by lack of steadfastness, constancy, or stability : given to erratic changeableness":[]
    },
    "examples":[
      "The Weak will suck up to the Strong, for fear of losing their jobs and their money and all the fickle power they wielded only twenty-four hours ago. \u2014 Hunter S. Thompson , Rolling Stone , 11 Nov. 2004",
      "The corporate fan who has replaced the core fan is a fickle beast, choosy about which games he'll use his precious free time to attend. \u2014 E. M. Swift , Sports Illustrated , 15 May 2000",
      "A failed play was a denial of what Odets was owed, for he was chasing the public no differently than did his bourgeois and nonrevolutionary contemporaries, a public as fickle as it always was and is. \u2014 Arthur Miller , Harper's , March 1999",
      "War is like hard-drug abuse or a fickle lover, an apparently contradictory bolt of compulsion, agony and ecstasy that draws you back in the face of better judgment time and time again. \u2014 Anthony Loyd , My War Gone By , 1999",
      "He blames poor sales on fickle consumers.",
      "a fickle friendship that was on and off over the years",
      "Recent Examples on the Web",
      "Still, the experience of EU aspirants from the Balkans has shown in recent years that the accession path can be fickle and that a single EU member state can stall a candidate\u2019s progress. \u2014 Laurence Norman, WSJ , 17 June 2022",
      "Big-time riders, especially as the Derby approaches, can be fickle and leave you for a higher-profile horse. \u2014 New York Times , 9 June 2022",
      "Fashion is fickle , but the ugly-chic shoe has been all the rage for years now. \u2014 Christian Allaire, Vogue , 2 June 2022",
      "The sudden wipeout of an entire, lucrative sector alarmed investors and reinforced the perception that regulations in China were fickle . \u2014 Pei Lin Wu, Washington Post , 16 May 2022",
      "MacLaughlin reimagines these tales in a mixture of modern and ancient settings, focusing on those whose bodies were transformed as the result of gods\u2019 fickle whims and murderous rages. \u2014 Lorraine Berry, Los Angeles Times , 28 Sep. 2021",
      "The cycling world can be a fickle one, so use that to your advantage. \u2014 Eben Weiss, Outside Online , 2 June 2022",
      "Still, quality matters more than fickle trends, says Warda Bouduettaya, pastry chef and owner of Detroit\u2019s Warda P\u00e2tisserie. \u2014 Ali Francis, Bon App\u00e9tit , 1 June 2022",
      "Skylar, who is wise beyond her years about the short shelf life of pop music and the fickle nature of young fans, isn\u2019t so sure. \u2014 George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune , 19 May 2022"
    ],
    "first_known_use":{
      "13th century, in the meaning defined above":""
    },
    "history_and_etymology":{
      "Middle English fikel deceitful, inconstant, from Old English ficol deceitful; akin to Old English be fician to deceive, and probably to Old English f\u0101h hostile \u2014 more at foe":""
    },
    "pronounciation":[
      "\u02c8fi-k\u0259l"
    ],
    "synonym_discussion":"Choose the Right Synonym for fickle inconstant , fickle , capricious , mercurial , unstable mean lacking firmness or steadiness (as in purpose or devotion). inconstant implies an incapacity for steadiness and an inherent tendency to change. an inconstant friend fickle suggests unreliability because of perverse changeability and incapacity for steadfastness. performers discover how fickle fans can be capricious suggests motivation by sudden whim or fancy and stresses unpredictability. an utterly capricious critic mercurial implies a rapid changeability in mood. made anxious by her boss's mercurial temperament unstable implies an incapacity for remaining in a fixed position or steady course and applies especially to a lack of emotional balance. too unstable to hold a job",
    "synonyms":[
      "capricious",
      "changeable",
      "changeful",
      "flickery",
      "fluctuating",
      "fluid",
      "inconsistent",
      "inconstant",
      "mercurial",
      "mutable",
      "skittish",
      "temperamental",
      "uncertain",
      "unpredictable",
      "unsettled",
      "unstable",
      "unsteady",
      "variable",
      "volatile"
    ],
    "time_of_retrieval":"20220707-064018",
    "type":[
      "adjective",
      "adverb",
      "noun"
    ]
  },
  "fiction":{
    "antonyms":[
      "fact",
      "materiality",
      "reality"
    ],
    "definitions":{
      ": a useful illusion or pretense":[
        "it was only a fiction of independence his mother gave him; he was almost totally under her power",
        "\u2014 G. A. Wagner"
      ],
      ": an assumption of a possibility as a fact irrespective of the question of its truth":[
        "a legal fiction"
      ],
      ": fictitious literature (such as novels or short stories)":[
        "was renowned as a writer of fiction"
      ],
      ": the action of feigning or of creating with the imagination":[
        "She engaged in fiction to escape painful realities."
      ]
    },
    "examples":[
      "She believes the fiction that crime rates are up.",
      "most stories about famous outlaws of the Old West are fictions that have little or nothing to do with fact",
      "Recent Examples on the Web",
      "The best fiction turns into a work of history as time goes by. \u2014 New York Times , 30 June 2022",
      "Of course, the very same tools can make fiction look like fact. \u2014 Aayushi Pratap, Forbes , 29 June 2022",
      "Science fiction continued to take over as well: The Marvel Cinematic Universe played out over twenty-one installments; Star Wars returned to theaters with The Force Awakens; and Warner Bros. launched the DC Extended Universe. \u2014 Andrew Liptak, The Week , 28 June 2022",
      "The video is designed to blur the line between reality and fiction . \u2014 Ross Scarano, Billboard , 28 June 2022",
      "But Hollywood remained resistant to fiction podcasts' value to TV, O'Donnell said. \u2014 Lynn Elber, ajc , 27 June 2022",
      "Bernhard himself would have hated an investigation into his effect on contemporary fiction . \u2014 Jessica Ferri, Los Angeles Times , 27 June 2022",
      "These small clues are so fertile for fiction about the past. \u2014 Cressida Leyshon, The New Yorker , 27 June 2022",
      "The most dangerous person in Ohio right now is J.D. Vance, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate who continues to peddle the fiction . \u2014 cleveland , 25 June 2022"
    ],
    "first_known_use":{
      "14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a":""
    },
    "history_and_etymology":{
      "Middle English ficcioun \"invention of the mind,\" borrowed from Middle French fiction, borrowed from Latin ficti\u014dn-, ficti\u014d \"action of shaping or molding, feigning, pretense, legal fiction,\" from fig-, variant stem of fingere \"to mold, fashion, make a likeness of, pretend to be\" + -ti\u014dn-, -ti\u014d, suffix of verbal action \u2014 more at feign":""
    },
    "pronounciation":[
      "\u02c8fik-sh\u0259n"
    ],
    "synonym_discussion":"",
    "synonyms":[
      "fable",
      "fabrication",
      "fantasy",
      "phantasy",
      "figment",
      "invention"
    ],
    "time_of_retrieval":"20220707-081652",
    "type":[
      "adjective",
      "noun"
    ]
  },
  "fictional":{
    "antonyms":[
      "actual",
      "existent",
      "existing",
      "real"
    ],
    "definitions":{
      ": of, relating to, characterized by, or occurring in fiction : invented by the imagination":[
        "a fictional story/character",
        "fictional dialogue",
        "Over the past 15 years, Noble has created a fantastical, awe-inspiring fictional city called Nobson Newtown, which he renders in painstakingly detailed pencil drawings \u2026",
        "\u2014 Steve Rose",
        "There are several surprises about stories. The first is that we spend a great deal of time in fictional worlds, whether in daydreams, novels, confabulations or life narratives. When all is tallied up, the decades we spend in the realm of fantasy outstrip the time we spend in the real world.",
        "\u2014 David Eagleman",
        "Besides scholarly writings and cultural criticism, he's turned out a fictional mystery series starring Edgar Allan Poe \u2026",
        "\u2014 Edward Lewine"
      ]
    },
    "examples":[],
    "first_known_use":{
      "1834, in the meaning defined above":""
    },
    "history_and_etymology":{},
    "pronounciation":[
      "-sh\u0259-n\u1d4al",
      "\u02c8fik-shn\u0259l",
      "\u02c8fik-sh\u0259-n\u1d4al"
    ],
    "synonym_discussion":"",
    "synonyms":[
      "chimerical",
      "chimeric",
      "fabulous",
      "fanciful",
      "fantasied",
      "fantastic",
      "fantastical",
      "fictitious",
      "ideal",
      "imaginal",
      "imaginary",
      "imagined",
      "invented",
      "made-up",
      "make-believe",
      "mythical",
      "mythic",
      "notional",
      "phantasmal",
      "phantasmic",
      "phantom",
      "pretend",
      "unreal",
      "visionary"
    ],
    "time_of_retrieval":"20220706-220159",
    "type":[
      "adjective",
      "adverb"
    ]
  },
  "fictionalized":{
    "antonyms":[],
    "definitions":{
      ": made into fiction : altered by the addition of fictional elements":[
        "a fictionalized account of the first moon landing",
        "fictionalized history"
      ]
    },
    "examples":[],
    "first_known_use":{
      "1905, in the meaning defined above":""
    },
    "history_and_etymology":{},
    "pronounciation":[
      "-sh\u0259-n\u0259-\u02ccl\u012bzd",
      "\u02c8fik-shn\u0259-\u02ccl\u012bzd"
    ],
    "synonym_discussion":"",
    "synonyms":[],
    "time_of_retrieval":"20220707-114943",
    "type":[
      "adjective"
    ]
  },
  "fictitious":{
    "antonyms":[
      "actual",
      "existent",
      "existing",
      "real"
    ],
    "definitions":{
      ": conventionally or hypothetically assumed or accepted":[
        "a fictitious concept"
      ],
      ": false , assumed":[],
      ": not genuinely felt":[],
      ": of, relating to, or characteristic of fiction : imaginary":[
        "fictitious events described in his novel"
      ]
    },
    "examples":[
      "The characters in the book are all fictitious .",
      "She gave a fictitious address on the application.",
      "Recent Examples on the Web",
      "Murdaugh\u2019s way from Pamela Pinckney\u2019s trust under the false and fictitious guise of unspecific case expenses. \u2014 Danielle Wallace, Fox News , 5 May 2022",
      "Also, the vehicle\u2019s plates were fictitious with expired tags. \u2014 John Benson, cleveland , 16 Mar. 2022",
      "Hindenburg described the preorders as largely fictitious or nonbinding. \u2014 Ben Foldy, WSJ , 15 June 2021",
      "The car the man was driving was also found to have fictitious plates. \u2014 cleveland , 13 May 2022",
      "But on one attempt to smuggle an Iraqi into the U.S. illegally through Mexico, the person was fictitious , and Shihab was communicating with the FBI. \u2014 Anchorage Daily News , 25 May 2022",
      "Smith\u2019s fictitious story about knife-wielding panhandlers stoked unfounded fears about people experiencing homelessness, leading to concerns the crime would provoke confrontations. \u2014 Alex Mann, baltimoresun.com , 28 Feb. 2022",
      "At the 2011 dinner, Obama skewered an unamused Trump \u2014 in his presence \u2014 over Trump's fictitious claims about the then-president's birth certificate. \u2014 Farnoush Amiri And Will Weissert, USA TODAY , 1 May 2022",
      "At the 2011 dinner, Obama skewered an unamused Trump \u2014 in his presence \u2014 over Trump\u2019s fictitious claims about the then-president\u2019s birth certificate. \u2014 Mitchell Peters, Billboard , 1 May 2022"
    ],
    "first_known_use":{
      "circa 1633, in the meaning defined at sense 1":""
    },
    "history_and_etymology":{
      "borrowed from Medieval Latin fict\u012bcius \"artificial, imaginary, feigned, fraudulent,\" going back to Latin, \"artificial, not natural,\" from fictus, past participle of fingere \"to mold, fashion, make a likeness of, pretend to be\" + -\u012bcius -itious \u2014 more at feign":""
    },
    "pronounciation":[
      "fik-\u02c8ti-sh\u0259s"
    ],
    "synonym_discussion":"Choose the Right Synonym for fictitious fictitious , fabulous , legendary , mythical , apocryphal mean having the nature of something imagined or invented. fictitious implies fabrication and suggests artificiality or contrivance more than deliberate falsification or deception. fictitious characters fabulous stresses the marvelous or incredible character of something without necessarily implying impossibility or actual nonexistence. a land of fabulous riches legendary suggests the elaboration of invented details and distortion of historical facts produced by popular tradition. the legendary exploits of Davy Crockett mythical implies a purely fanciful explanation of facts or the creation of beings and events out of the imagination. mythical creatures apocryphal implies an unknown or dubious source or origin or may imply that the thing itself is dubious or inaccurate. a book that repeats many apocryphal stories",
    "synonyms":[
      "chimerical",
      "chimeric",
      "fabulous",
      "fanciful",
      "fantasied",
      "fantastic",
      "fantastical",
      "fictional",
      "ideal",
      "imaginal",
      "imaginary",
      "imagined",
      "invented",
      "made-up",
      "make-believe",
      "mythical",
      "mythic",
      "notional",
      "phantasmal",
      "phantasmic",
      "phantom",
      "pretend",
      "unreal",
      "visionary"
    ],
    "time_of_retrieval":"20220706-172744",
    "type":[
      "adjective",
      "adverb",
      "noun"
    ]
  },
  "FICA":{
    "type":[
      "abbreviation"
    ],
    "definitions":{
      "Federal Insurance Contributions Act":[]
    },
    "pronounciation":[
      "\u02c8f\u012b-k\u0259"
    ],
    "synonyms":[],
    "antonyms":[],
    "synonym_discussion":"",
    "examples":[],
    "history_and_etymology":{},
    "first_known_use":{},
    "time_of_retrieval":"20220709-102923"
  },
  "Ficaria":{
    "type":[
      "noun"
    ],
    "definitions":{
      ": a small genus of European herbs (family Ranunculaceae) closely related to the buttercups but having three sepals and swollen smooth achenes":[]
    },
    "pronounciation":[
      "f\u012b\u02c8ka(a)r\u0113\u0259"
    ],
    "synonyms":[],
    "antonyms":[],
    "synonym_discussion":"",
    "examples":[],
    "history_and_etymology":{
      "New Latin, from Latin ficus fig + New Latin -aria ; from the appearance of the roots":""
    },
    "first_known_use":{},
    "time_of_retrieval":"20220709-142135"
  },
  "ficary":{
    "type":[
      "noun"
    ],
    "definitions":{
      ": lesser celandine":[]
    },
    "pronounciation":[
      "\u02c8fik\u0259r\u0113"
    ],
    "synonyms":[],
    "antonyms":[],
    "synonym_discussion":"",
    "examples":[],
    "history_and_etymology":{
      "New Latin Ficaria":""
    },
    "first_known_use":{},
    "time_of_retrieval":"20220709-191401"
  }
}