Caprice
[kə'priːs] or [kə'pris]
Definition
(v. i.) An abrupt change in feeling, opinion, or action, proceeding from some whim or fancy; a freak; a notion.
(v. i.) See Capriccio.
Checked by Brits
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Whim, freak, fancy, humor, crotchet, maggot, quirk, vagary, whimsey, WRINKLE.
Typist: Murray
Synonyms and Antonyms
[See DRY]
Checker: Witt
Definition
n. a change of humour or opinion without reason: a freak: changeableness.—ns. Capriccio (ka-prēt′cho) a sportive motion: (mus.) a species of free composition not subject to rule as to form or figure; Capriccio′so a direction in music for a free style.—adj. Capri′cious (Shak.) humorous: full of caprice: changeable.—adv. Capri′ciously.—n. Capri′ciousness.
Checker: Sabina
Examples
- They were weary, besides, of humouring the people, and of depending upon their caprice for a subsistence. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- Really that little man was dreadful: a mere sprite of caprice andubiquity: one never knew either his whim or his whereabout. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- And all this was to have come without study or other inconvenience, purely by the favor of providence in the shape of an old gentleman's caprice. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- If we do not know its end, we shall be at the mercy of accident and caprice. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- And are you so obedient to a mere caprice of mine? Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- They depend upon humour and caprice. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- All this, instead of being as you now are, dependent on the mere caprice of Puffy! Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- For whatever sentiment met him in form too facile, his lips menaced, beautifully but surely, caprice and light esteem. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- What she has done for him demands his constant love and gratitude, not his ill-humour and caprice. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- The gushing fountains which sparkle in the sun, must not be stopped in mere caprice; the oasis in the desert of Sahara must not be plucked up idly. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- The imperfections of his mind run parallel with those of his body, being a composition of spleen, dullness, ignorance, caprice, sensuality, and pride. Jonathan Swift. Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.
- What do you think of marrying to sober Poverty many-tinted Caprice? Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Meyler, said I, I have given way at all times to your caprice and jealousy. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- It is better to be torn to pieces at a spring, than to be a mouse at the caprice of such a cat. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- And, continued Louis, no caprice can withdraw these pleasures from me; they are _mine_. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- My good Andros, said Justinian one day, when he had been inveighing against the caprices of women, why do you come to me for assistance? Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- This was very hard upon one, who, like myself, had been spoiled and indulged by a man, who was ever a slave to my slightest caprices! Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- If I had been his wife, I could have been the slave of his caprices for a word of love a year. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
Checked by Jo