caprice

noun

ca·​price kə-ˈprēs 

1

a

: a sudden, impulsive, and seemingly unmotivated notion or action

policy changes that seem to be motivated by nothing more than caprice

b

: a sudden usually unpredictable condition, change, or series of changes

the caprices of the weather

2

: a disposition to do things impulsively

a preference for democratic endeavor over authoritarian caprice

3

: capriccio sense 3

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Caprice and Capricious

The adjective capricious and its close relation, the noun caprice (a synonym of whim), both come via French from the Italian word capriccio, which has disputed origins. Capriccio originally referred not to a sudden desire but to a sudden shiver of horror and likely comes from the Italian capo, meaning “head,” and riccio, the word for “hedgehog.” The implication was that someone who shuddered in fear or horror was said to have a “hedgehog head,” meaning that the person’s hair stood on end like the spines of a hedgehog. The link between a whim and a shiver of horror is notably tenuous, though, and a possible link to Italian capra, meaning “goat,” has also been suggested, given the whimsy goats seem to employ in their gamboling. (Here is a full treatment of the disputed etymology.) Whatever its origins, capriccio came to mean “whim, fancy,” which directly relates to its uses today. Something done in a capricious manner is done on a whim, as in “a capricious decision to join the circus.”

Synonyms

• bee
• crank
• fancy
• freak
• humor
• kink
• maggot
• megrim
• notion
• vagary
• vagrancy
• whim
• whimsy
• whimsey

Choose the Right Synonym for caprice

caprice, whim, vagary, crotchet mean an irrational or unpredictable idea or desire.

caprice stresses lack of apparent motivation and suggests willfulness.

by sheer caprice she quit her job

whim implies a fantastic, capricious turn of mind or inclination.

an odd antique that was bought on a whim

vagary stresses the erratic, irresponsible character of the notion or desire.

he had been prone to strange vagaries

crotchet implies an eccentric opinion or preference.

a serious scientist equally known for his bizarre crotchets

Examples of caprice in a Sentence

… Montana's "Durum Triangle," where the caprice of microclimates has led farmers to complain not of floods but of drought. —Florence Williams, New Republic, 16 Aug. 1999

But Castro has his army and his secret police and a reputation for ferocious caprice, and so he can make a whole people dance to his dementias. —Jack Beatty, Atlantic, January 1987

I'm allowing about ten days between here and the U.S.A. (that may be too much or too little, depending on the caprice of the Italian mails). —James Wright, letter, 28 May 1979

the caprices of the weather

Employees have complained of being at the mercy of the manager's every whim and caprice.

policy changes that seem to be motivated by nothing more than caprice

Recent Examples on the Web

Back when podcasting wasn’t co-opted by YouTube, the idea was that owning your own successful podcast insulates you from being completely beholden to the caprice of social-media algorithms. —Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 12 Sep. 2024

My rebellious nature, and my inclination for pointing out her caprices may have sharpened her disfavor. —Kathy Ehrich Dowd, TIME, 10 Oct. 2024

Alone in her room with her array of makeshift miniature dolls, she is led by the caprice of her imagination. —Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2024

There’s a sense of interior chaos to Lee’s designs for Mercy’s space that reflects a messy character and the caprice of Hong Kong landlords. —Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 17 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, going back to Middle French, borrowed from Italian capriccio "whim, fancy," earlier and medieval Tuscan caporiccio "bristling of the hair with fear, shiver of horror, shudder," probably from capo "head" (going back to Vulgar Latin *capum, re-formation of Latin caput "head") + riccio "hedgehog," going back to Latin ērīcius — more at head entry 1, urchin

Note: Italian capriccio has been a word of disputed origin, the principle issue being the peculiar semantic shift from "shiver of horror"—a meaning easily explicable from the compound's bases "head" and "hedgehog"—to "whim, caprice," and hence to various further senses. On these grounds M. Cortelazzo and P. Zolli (Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana) consider the entire etymology uncertain, and speculate that two etyma of independent origin have somehow converged phonetically. Cortelazzo and Zolli state that the Sienese poet Cecco Angiolieri (died ca. 1312) used caporiccio in the sense "desire, wish" ("desiderio, voglia"), but in the sole occurrence of the word in the sonnets attributed to him, the meaning is actually far from clear. With this use set aside, the sense "whim, fancy" is not attested before the sixteenth century according to the Lessico etimologico italiano (vol. 9, column 1055), when it was borrowed by French. The earlier meaning "shiver of horror," first attested as a translation of Latin horror by the Florentine author Bono Giamboni (died ca. 1292), is apparently rare in Italian after the eighteenth century, but derivatives such as raccapricciarsi "to be horrified," raccapriccio "horror, disgust," are still current. The sense "whim, fancy" has suggested a connection with capra "goat," an animal stereotypically known for its sudden leaps (compare capriole). The lexicographer Francesco Alunno, in Ricchezze della lingua volgare sopra il Boccaccio (1543), notes both meanings of the word without attempting to reconcile them: "And a sudden and unreasoning inclination is called capriccio, such as seems to come in the manner of goats, which all leap if one leaps. Likewise those shudders, shivers of cold that appear at the beginning of a still doubtful fever are called capricci." ("Et Capriccio si chiama un' appetito subito et senza rasone, tale, qual pare che venga alle Capre; che se una salta tutte l'altre saltano. Item Capricci si chiamano quei ribrezzi, griccioli del gielo, che vengono nel principio della febre anchora incerta.") Whatever its etymology, caporiccio/capriccio is likely at least as old as the thirteenth century, given its rich attestation in dialects throughout the Italian peninsula, as documented in Lessico etimologico italiano.

First Known Use

1667, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

caprice

noun

ca·​price kə-ˈprēs 

1

: a sudden change in feeling, opinion, or action

2

: a disposition to change one's mind suddenly