MERCURIAL • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Mercurial

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/mərkjˈʊriəl/ Listen

adjective

Mercurial adj.

Having the qualities fabled to belong to the god Mercury; swift; active; sprightly; fickle; volatile; changeable; as, a mercurial youth; a mercurial temperament. "A mercurial man Who fluttered over all things like a fan."

Having the form or image of Mercury; applied to ancient guideposts. (Obs.)

Of or pertaining to Mercury as the god of trade; hence, money-making; crafty. "The mercurial wand of commerce."

Of or pertaining to, or containing, mercury; as, mercurial preparations, barometer. See Mercury, 2.

(Med.) Caused by the use of mercury; as, mercurial sore mouth.

noun

Mercurial n.

A person having mercurial qualities.

(Med.) A preparation containing mercury.

See images of 'Mercurial'

Etymology of 'Mercurial'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Mercurial" Quotes from Famous Books

... The speaker, a mercurial youth of two and twenty, was one of a group of young people assembled, some on horseback, some in yellow buckboards, in front of a ...

— Peak and Prairie - From a Colorado Sketch-book • Anna Fuller

... happened that were not down on paper—in the plans of the German General Headquarters! It became distressingly evident that these Yanks knew as little, and cared as little, what was expected of them as the stupid Britishers or the mercurial French or the suicidal Belgians. They didn't know how to fight—they couldn't know—they had never done any fighting, and whom had they had to teach them warfare? They were absurd. They didn't know the simplest rules of war—they didn't know enough to surrender ...

— Foch the Man - A Life of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Armies • Clara E. Laughlin

... steamer might be, and was told that it was the eight o'clock from Dover, which had broken down, put into Calais for some slight necessary repairs, and was arriving at its destination nearly four hours late. Her mercurial spirits rose again. A minute ago she was regarding herself as no better than a ninny engaged in a wild-goose chase. Now she felt that after all she had been very sagacious and cunning. She was morally ...

— The Grand Babylon Hotel • Arnold Bennett

... is irritation produced about the tail the horse continually rubs and it is well to apply Mercurial Ointment to both ...

— The Veterinarian • Chas. J. Korinek

... sausage, and, before each guest, an egg that had been proudly heralded by the clucking hen but a few hours before—truly a bountiful breakfast, discrediting the latest guest's anticipations! The manager, in high spirits, mercurial as the weather, came down from his room, a bundle of posters under his arm, boisterously greeting Saint-Prosper, whom he ...

— The Strollers • Frederic S. Isham

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