Meaning & use
caprice
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountableformalliterary
A sudden change of mind or mood that has no clear reason behind it.
Grammar: Countable with a, or uncountable in general statements: a caprice, at the caprice of the king.
Patterns
- on a caprice
- at the caprice of someone
- the caprice of something
On a caprice, she dropped her plans and flew to Lisbon.
The harvest depended on the caprice of the weather.
He bought the boat out of pure caprice, with no idea how to sail.
nouncountablemusic
A lively piece of music, often short, written in a free and playful style.
Grammar: Countable and used about music: a violin caprice.
Patterns
- a caprice for violin
The violinist played a difficult caprice by Paganini.
He wrote a short caprice for piano in his twenties.
The concert ended with a sparkling caprice.
Word forms
| plural | caprices |
|---|
Common combinations
- on a caprice
- He moved to the coast on a caprice.
- the caprice of fate
- They were at the mercy of the caprice of fate.
- whim and caprice
- The old king ruled by whim and caprice.
- mere caprice
- It was a mere caprice that made her take the train.
- follow a caprice
- She liked to follow a caprice wherever it led.
Synonyms and how they differ
- whim
- Whim is the everyday word for a sudden wish, while caprice sounds more formal and often hints at changeable character.
- fancy
- Fancy suggests a mild passing liking, and caprice suggests a more unpredictable change.
- impulse
- Impulse stresses a sudden urge to act, but caprice stresses the lack of reason behind a choice.
- vagary
- Vagary usually appears in the plural and means an unpredictable change, so it is close to caprice but even more literary.
Opposites
Word family
- capricious adjective
- changing mood or behavior suddenly and without reason
- capriciously adverb
- in an unpredictable, unreasoned way
- capriciousness noun
- the quality of changing suddenly and unpredictably
Commonly confused: caprice or capris?
caprice vs capris
Capris are calf-length trousers. The word is not related to caprice.
Practice
She quit her job on a caprice. This means she quit ____.
Choose one answer.
A caprice is a sudden change of mind with no clear reason. Careful planning, an order or a protest would all give a reason.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “caprice”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.