shifting sands
Desert in motion
Shifting sands are desert dunes that move with the wind, never staying in one place.
The phrase is almost always figurative, describing unstable or constantly changing circumstances: the shifting sands of public opinion, building a career on shifting sands.
The image suggests unreliable footing—anything built on shifting sands lacks a firm foundation.
- duneWind-formed sand ridge
- desert windArid region airflow
- impermanenceQuality of not lasting
- erosionGradual wearing away
- precariousnessState of uncertain stability
quicksand · shifting ground · ephemeral · flux · hourglass · uncertainty · wind patterns · unpredictability · transient · coastal erosion · mirage · lost in the desert · fluidity · desertification · footprints · transformation · beaches · volatility
- desertdune, dunes, ergs, erg, Sahara
- sand dunesdunes, dune, White Sands, coastal dunes, beach dunes
- Untrustworthy Thingsbroken promise, fair-weather friend, snake in the grass, wolf in sheep's clothing, two-faced
- Inconsistencywishy-washy, flip-flop, fickle, unreliable, unpredictable
shifting sandssolid ground
Stable surface beneath
bedrock · rock · terra firma · solid rock · firm footing
shifting sandssolid ground
Stable surface beneath
bedrock · solid rock · rock · granite · stone
shifting sandsbedrock
Solid stone underground
eternal truths · constants · certainties · absolutes · axioms