vicissitude
Fortune's unpredictable shift
Vicissitude refers to change or variation, especially an unexpected shift in circumstances or fortune.
The word almost always appears in the plural: the vicissitudes of life, the vicissitudes of war.
It suggests that change is inevitable and often difficult—ups and downs that must be weathered rather than controlled.
To make different
- shiftMovement or work period
- fluctuationIrregular change over time
- instabilityTendency toward unpredictable change
- uncertaintyState of being unsure
turbulence · disruption · reversal · downturn · upturn · swing · oscillation · unpredictability
Severe difficulty or suffering
- struggleLabored effort against resistance
- trialJudicial examination of claims
- tribulationState of great distress
- ordealDifficult, painful experience
difficulty · suffering · misfortune · setback · challenge · affliction · distress · woe
Predetermined course of events
- destinyPredetermined course of events
- luckChance affecting outcomes
- chanceLikelihood of occurrence
- kismetPreordained future outcome
karma · serendipity · providence · misfortune · blessing · curse · windfall · setback
Cyclical rise and decline
- rise and fallCyclical upward-downward movement
- ups and downsAlternating good and bad
- waxing and waningCyclical increase and decrease
- seasonsYear's four divisions
phases · tides · pendulum · rhythm · periodicity · recurrence · succession · alternation
change
To make different
- shiftMovement or work period
- fluctuationIrregular change over time
- instabilityTendency toward unpredictable change
uncertainty · turbulence · disruption · reversal · downturn · upturn · swing · oscillation · unpredictability · volatility
adversity
Severe difficulty or suffering
- struggleLabored effort against resistance
- trialJudicial examination of claims
- tribulationState of great distress
ordeal · difficulty · suffering · misfortune · setback · challenge · affliction · distress · woe · privation
fate
Predetermined course of events
kismet · karma · serendipity · providence · misfortune · blessing · curse · windfall · setback · boon
ebb and flow
Cyclical rise and decline
- rise and fallCyclical upward-downward movement
- ups and downsAlternating good and bad
- waxing and waningCyclical increase and decrease
seasons · phases · tides · pendulum · rhythm · periodicity · recurrence · succession · alternation · undulation
- fancy wordsgrandiloquent, magniloquent, sesquipedalian, pulchritudinous, tintinnabulation
- changeabilitymutability, fickleness, inconstancy, instability, fluctuation
- fortunelucky, luck, fortune, fate, destiny
vicissitudestability
Resistance to displacement
constancy · permanence · immutability · changelessness · steadiness
vicissitudesmooth sailing
Untroubled progress forward
even keel · tranquility · serenity · placidity · security