fair-weather friendships
Sunshine-only social ties
Fair-weather friendships are relationships that thrive only during good times and dissolve when circumstances become difficult.
The term draws from the nautical sense of fair weather—calm, favorable conditions—suggesting friends who stick around when things are easy but disappear when you need support.
After I lost my job, I learned which of my friendships were just fair-weather friendships.
The phrase carries a dismissive tone, implying superficiality and unreliability compared to friendships that endure hardship.
Passing very quickly
- transientTemporary, soon departing
- ephemeralLasting very briefly
- short-livedLasting only briefly
- impermanentNot meant to last
passing · momentary · seasonal · finite · disposable · replaceable · interchangeable
Exploiting circumstances for gain
- self-servingBenefiting oneself primarily
- convenientEasy to use
- circumstantialBased on inference, not proof
- situationalDependent on circumstances
beneficial · advantageous · transactional · calculated · pragmatic · strategic · utilitarian · contingent
Not consistently trustworthy
- untrustworthyNot deserving of confidence
- flakyCrumbly or unreliable
- inconsistentLacking steady uniformity
- disloyalUntrue to commitments
inconstant · undependable · absent · unavailable · disappearing · ghosting · abandoning · deserting
Without much depth
- surface-levelConcerning only the outermost layer
- casualRelaxed and informal
- acquaintancesPeople known slightly
- nominalIn designation only
peripheral · trivial · lightweight · uninvolved · detached · distant · impersonal · hollow
fleeting
Passing very quickly
- transientTemporary, soon departing
- ephemeralLasting very briefly
- short-livedLasting only briefly
impermanent · passing · momentary · seasonal · finite · disposable · replaceable · interchangeable
opportunistic
Exploiting circumstances for gain
- self-servingBenefiting oneself primarily
- convenientEasy to use
- circumstantialBased on inference, not proof
situational · beneficial · advantageous · transactional · calculated · pragmatic · strategic · utilitarian · contingent · selective
undependable
Not consistently trustworthy
- untrustworthyNot deserving of confidence
- flakyCrumbly or unreliable
- inconsistentLacking steady uniformity
disloyal · inconstant · undependable · absent · unavailable · disappearing · ghosting · abandoning · deserting · vanishing
shallow
Without much depth
- surface-levelConcerning only the outermost layer
- casualRelaxed and informal
- acquaintancesPeople known slightly
nominal · peripheral · trivial · lightweight · uninvolved · detached · distant · impersonal · hollow · empty
fair-weather friendshipstrue friendship
Authentic, lasting mutual affection
through thick and thin · blood brothers · having someone's back · bosom friends
fairer, fairest, fairness, weather, weathers, weathered, weathering, weatherman, friend