Make Your Point: CHAMELEONIC

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pronounce CHAMELEONIC:

kuh ME lee YON ick

connect this word to others:

You might call a chameleonic person fickle, or inconstant, or flip-flopping, or inconsistent.

Or c_pr_cious, meaning they change a lot in an unpredictable way, as if following every little whim.

Or m_rc_r__l, meaning they change often and immediately, like a silver-white metal responding to heat.

Or wa__ling, meaning they switch back and forth, as if talking and talking on both sides of an issue instead of committing to one.

Could you recall all three of those synonyms?

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

(Source)

The word "chameleon" traces back through Old French and Latin to some Greek words, khamai, meaning "on the ground," and leon, "lion." (So chameleons are basically "ground lions"? Yup, it seems so.)

Chameleons are reptiles known for their incredible skill at changing their appearances to blend in.

So, if you refer to a person (or a thing) as a chameleon, you mean they're someone who often changes themselves to blend into different situations.

The adjective form is "chameleonic." Chameleonic things and people are the kind that often change themselves to blend into different situations.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "a chameleonic writing style;" "His writing style is chameleonic."

Other forms:

If you prefer, there's an alternate adjective: "chameleon-like."

how to use it:

Call someone a chameleon, or chameleonic, when you want to emphasize how extremely adaptable they are to different situations.

That could be a complaint: "Who knows what her true personality is? She's a chameleon. Loud with her loud friends, and serious with her serious friends."

Or it could be a compliment: "She has so much musical talent. She's chameleonic. She can improvise with a jazz band and harmonize with a blues band."

examples:

"He adapted himself to get along with all the Bahrami men, like a chameleon."
— Adib Khorram, Darius The Great Is Not Okay, 2018

"She... has an unhappy knack of making herself appear ten or fifteen years younger than she is if she needs to. She is chameleonic as to age, and takes on always something of the years of the particular man she is talking to."
— John Kendrick Bangs, The Son-in-Law, 1908

has this page helped you understand "chameleonic"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "chameleonic" without saying "changeable" or "inconsistent."

try it out:

In an old novel by John Kendrick Bangs, a character finds chameleonic people charming and fascinating:

"Women are after all more chameleonic, capable of a greater variety of emotions than men are. A man may find several women in one—in fact, he generally does. It is her frequent unlikeness to herself that constitutes the chief charm of some women."

Hmm. What do you think? Does he have a point, or is he full of bull? Do you know anyone (of any gender) whose chameleonic nature fascinates you?

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for this month is the Game of Venery!

Longtime readers may recognize this game from 2019, when we played with terms from James Lipton's book An Exaltation of Larks. This time, we’ll play with terms from Daniel E. Meyers's online Collective Noun Catalog.

To play, check out the two templates below, and have fun filling them in and sharing your inventions with your family. You can be as lofty, silly, or bawdy as you like. To see the way the terms actually appear in Meyers’s catalog, scroll to the bottom of the issue.

Try these today:

1. an albatross of _____

2. a/an _____ of prunes

review this word:

1. Opposites of CHAMELEONIC include

A. VIVID and BRIGHT.
B. RIGID and STEADY.
C. STRICT and STRINGENT.

2. A writer for the New York Times called the actress Tilda Swinton chameleonic, noting her ability to _____.

A. "perfectly encapsulate any outcast or loner"
B. "go as big and showy as any Oscar contender" as well as perform as a "brilliant miniaturist"
C. dazzle in both independent films like Grand Budapest Hotel and mainstream ones such as Avengers: Endgame

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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