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caprice definition

ca·price (kə prēs′)

noun

  1. a sudden, impulsive change in the way one thinks or acts; freakish notion; whim
  2. a capricious quality or nature
  3. Music a capriccio

Etymology: Fr < It capriccio, a shivering, whim < capo (< L caput, head) + riccio, curl, frizzled, lit., hedgehog (< L ericius: see urchin); hence, orig., head with bristling hair, horripilation; meaning infl. by assoc. with It capriola (see capriole) & capra < L capra, she-goat

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

caprice Synonyms

caprice

n.

whim, vagary, notion, fancy, impulse, eccentricity, crotchet, quirk, freak, whimsy, humor, maggot, megrim, capriciousness, fancifulness, whimsicality, flightiness, fickleness, changeableness; see also quirk.

caprice refers to a sudden, impulsive, apparently unmotivated turn of mind or emotion discharged at the caprice of a foreman; whim and whimsy can both refer to an idle, quaint, or curious notion, but whim more often suggests willfulness and whimsy fancifulness pursuing a whim, he wrote a poem full of whimsy; vagary suggests a highly unusual or extravagant notion the vagaries of fashion in women's clothes; crotchet implies great eccentricity and connotes stubbornness in opposition to prevailing thought, usually on some insignificant point his crotchets concerning diet


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

caprice Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • fashion: This is a season trade, and subject also to much irregularity from the caprices of fashion.

Converse of object

  • conceal: These are not mere mechanical rules, but neither are they simply fictions to conceal caprice.

Adjective modifier

  • mere: She took the veil without any reason, physical or moral; it was a mere caprice.

Noun used with modifier

  • chevy: For the police are likely to cost or a chevy caprice to drive the.
caprice usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

caprice quotes

It is procedure that spells much of the difference between rule by law and rule by whim or caprice.

-Douglas, (George) Norman

caprice quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"caprice." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/caprice>

APA Style

caprice. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/caprice

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