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MERCURIAL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Liable to sudden unpredictable change
Example:
a quicksilver character, cool and willful at one moment, utterly fragile the next
Synonyms:
erratic; fickle; mercurial; quicksilver
Classified under:
Similar:
changeable; changeful (such that alteration is possible; having a marked tendency to change)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Relating to or containing or caused by mercury
Example:
mercurial sore mouth
Classified under:
Relational adjectives (pertainyms)
Pertainym:
mercury (a heavy silvery toxic univalent and bivalent metallic element; the only metal that is liquid at ordinary temperatures)
Derivation:
mercury (a heavy silvery toxic univalent and bivalent metallic element; the only metal that is liquid at ordinary temperatures)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Relating to or having characteristics (eloquence, shrewdness, swiftness, thievishness) attributed to the god Mercury
Example:
more than Mercurial thievishness
Classified under:
Relational adjectives (pertainyms)
Pertainym:
Mercury ((Roman mythology) messenger of Jupiter and god of commerce; counterpart of Greek Hermes)
Derivation:
Mercury ((Roman mythology) messenger of Jupiter and god of commerce; counterpart of Greek Hermes)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Relating to or under the (astrological) influence of the planet Mercury
Example:
the Mercurial canals
Classified under:
Relational adjectives (pertainyms)
Pertainym:
Mercury (the smallest planet and the nearest to the sun)
