quicksilver

quick·sil·ver  (kwkslvr)

n.

See mercury.

adj.

Unpredictable; mercurial: "a quicksilver character, cool and willful at one moment, utterly fragile the next" Sven Birkerts.

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[Middle English, from Old English cwicseolfor, living silver (translation of Latin argentum vvum) : cwic, cwicu, alive; see g^wei- in Indo-European roots + seolfor, silver; see silver.]

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quicksilver

Noun

the metal mercury

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	quicksilver - a heavy silvery toxic univalent and bivalent metallic element; the only metal that is liquid at ordinary temperatures atomic number 80, Hg, hydrargyrum, mercury metal, metallic element - any of several chemical elements that are usually shiny solids that conduct heat or electricity and can be formed into sheets etc. cinnabar - a heavy reddish mineral consisting of mercuric sulfide; the chief source of mercury calomel, mercurous chloride - a tasteless colorless powder used medicinally as a cathartic
Adj.	1.	quicksilver - liable to sudden unpredictable change; "erratic behavior"; "fickle weather"; "mercurial twists of temperament"; "a quicksilver character, cool and willful at one moment, utterly fragile the next" erratic, mercurial, fickle changeful, changeable - such that alteration is possible; having a marked tendency to change; "changeable behavior"; "changeable moods"; "changeable prices"