mercurial

mercurial
    adj 1: liable to sudden unpredictable change; "erratic
           behavior"; "fickle weather"; "mercurial twists of
           temperament"; "a quicksilver character, cool and willful
           at one moment, utterly fragile the next" [syn: {erratic},
           {fickle}, {mercurial}, {quicksilver(a)}]
    2: relating to or under the (astrological) influence of the
       planet Mercury; "the Mercurial canals"
    3: relating to or having characteristics (eloquence, shrewdness,
       swiftness, thievishness) attributed to the god Mercury; "more
       than Mercurial thievishness"
    4: relating to or containing or caused by mercury; "mercurial
       preparations"; "mercurial sore mouth"
    

Mercurial \Mer*cu"ri*al\, a. [L. mercurialis, fr. Mercurius
   Mercury: cf. F. mercuriel.]
   1. Having the qualities fabled to belong to the god Mercury;
      swift; active; sprightly; fickle; volatile; changeable;
      as, a mercurial youth; a mercurial temperament.
      [1913 Webster]

            A mercurial man
            Who fluttered over all things like a fan. --Byron.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Having the form or image of Mercury; -- applied to ancient
      guideposts. [Obs.] --Chillingworth.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Of or pertaining to Mercury as the god of trade; hence,
      money-making; crafty.
      [1913 Webster]

            The mercurial wand of commerce.       --J. Q. Adams.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. Of or pertaining to, or containing, mercury; as, mercurial
      preparations, barometer. See {Mercury}, 2.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. (Med.) Caused by the use of mercury; as, mercurial sore
      mouth.
      [1913 Webster]
    

Mercurial \Mer*cu"ri*al\, n.
   1. A person having mercurial qualities. --Bacon.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Med.) A preparation containing mercury.
      [1913 Webster]
    

236 Moby Thesaurus words for "mercurial":
      active, activist, activistic, adrift, adroit, afloat, agile, alive,
      alternating, ambitendent, ambivalent, amorphous, animated,
      at loose ends, aureate, bouncing, bouncy, brass, brassy, brazen,
      breakneck, breezy, brisk, bronze, bronzy, bubbly, buoyant,
      capricious, changeable, changeful, changing, chipper, choppy,
      clever, copper, coppery, coquettish, cunning, cupreous, cuprous,
      dashing, desultory, deviable, deviating, deviative, deviatory,
      different, disorderly, divaricate, divergent, diversified,
      diversiform, dizzy, double-minded, double-quick, dubious,
      eagle-winged, ebullient, eccentric, effervescent, elastic,
      energetic, erose, erratic, expansive, expeditious, express,
      faddish, fast, fast and loose, fence-sitting, fence-straddling,
      ferrous, ferruginous, fickle, fitful, fleet, flickering, flighty,
      flirtatious, flitting, fluctuating, flying, freakish, frisky,
      full of go, full of life, full of pep, galloping, giddy, gilt,
      gold, gold-filled, gold-plated, golden, hair-trigger, hasty,
      headlong, hustling, impetuous, impulsive, inconsistent, inconstant,
      indecisive, infirm, infirm of purpose, ingenious, iron, ironlike,
      irregular, irresolute, irresolved, irresponsible, jagged, jerky,
      lead, leaden, light, light of heel, light-footed, live, lively,
      lubricious, mazy, mercurous, militant, mobile, moody, motley,
      movable, mugwumpian, mugwumpish, mutable, nickel, nickelic,
      nickeline, nimble, nimble-footed, nonconformist, nonstandard,
      nonuniform, of two minds, peppy, perky, pert, pewter, pewtery,
      pluralistic, precipitate, prompt, quick, quick as lightning,
      quick as thought, quicksilver, ragged, rambling, rapid, reckless,
      resilient, restless, rough, roving, running, scatterbrained,
      shapeless, shifting, shifty, shuffling, silver, silver-plated,
      silvery, skittish, smacking, snappy, spanking, spasmodic, speedy,
      spineless, spirited, sporadic, sprightly, spry, steel, steely,
      swift, temperamental, ticklish, tin, tinny, toying, unaccountable,
      uncertain, uncontrolled, undecided, undependable, undetermined,
      undisciplined, unequable, unequal, uneven, unfixed, unorthodox,
      unpredictable, unreliable, unresolved, unrestrained, unsettled,
      unstable, unstable as water, unstaid, unsteadfast, unsteady,
      unsystematic, ununiform, vacillating, vagrant, variable,
      variegated, variform, various, varying, versatile, vicissitudinary,
      vicissitudinous, vivacious, volatile, wandering, wanton, wavering,
      wavery, wavy, wayward, whimsical, winged, wishy-washy, zingy