Definition of VICISSITUDES (original) (raw)

: the quality or state of being changeable : mutability

: natural change or mutation visible in nature or in human affairs

: a favorable or unfavorable event or situation that occurs by chance : a fluctuation of state or condition

the vicissitudes of daily life

: a difficulty or hardship attendant on a way of life, a career, or a course of action and usually beyond one's control

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"Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better," wrote British theologian Richard Hooker in the 16th century. That observation may shed some light on vicissitude, a word that can refer simply to the fact of change, or to an instance of it, but that often refers specifically to hardship or difficulty brought about by change. To survive "the vicissitudes of life" is thus to survive life's ups and downs, with special emphasis on the downs. Vicissitude is a descendant of the Latin noun vicis, meaning "change" or "alternation," and it has been a part of the English language since the 16th century. In contemporary usage, it most often occurs in the plural.

Examples of vicissitude in a Sentence

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How should those future retirees be investing today to best weather the vicissitudes of tomorrow? —Eamon Barrett, Fortune, 2 Mar. 2023 The vicissitudes of a placid adulthood: a dinner that tastes good, but not great; a film that entertains but doesn’t transport. —Hazlitt, 4 May 2022 During the past 20 years, the newsroom has been hit with pay cuts, layoffs and furloughs on an almost yearly basis as the company attempts to respond to both the economy and the vicissitudes of an industry in constant flux. —John D'anna, azcentral, 19 May 2020 This last element—a form of legal financing called third-party litigation funding—proliferated during the 2008 recession, in part because lawsuits are somewhat insulated from the vicissitudes of the market. —Francesca Mari, The Atlantic, 16 Apr. 2020 See all Example Sentences for vicissitude