vicissitudes
Fortune's constant shifts
Vicissitudes are the unpredictable changes and shifting circumstances that life brings—usually with an implication of hardship or difficulty.
The word appears almost exclusively in the plural and often with "of": the vicissitudes of fortune, the vicissitudes of war, weathering the vicissitudes of a long career.
It carries a literary, somewhat elevated tone.
Alternating good and bad
- twists and turnsFrequent direction changes
- reversalsChanges to opposite directions
- changesAlterations or transitions
- shiftsMoves or work periods
swings · oscillations · variations · instability · unpredictability · volatility · inconstancy · mutability
Extensive ruled territories
- dynastiesSuccessive rulers from one family
- regimesSystems of government
- civilizationsComplex organized human societies
- epochsDistinct historical stretches
eras · revolutions · upheavals · wars · peace · conquests · defeats · reigns
State resisting forecasts
- instabilityTendency toward unpredictable change
- precariousnessState of uncertain stability
- insecurityUncertainty about oneself
- impermanenceQuality of not lasting
transience · ephemerality · mutability · fickleness · capriciousness · inconstancy · changeability · unreliability
Predetermined course of events
- destinyPredetermined course of events
- luckChance affecting outcomes
- prosperityGood fortune, success
- adversitySevere difficulty or suffering
misfortune · windfall · success · failure · boom · bust · riches · poverty
Coming into the world
milestones · transitions · stages · passages · seasons · maturation · senescence · childhood
Thorough change in form
- upheavalViolent disturbance of order
- transitionChange from one state
- shiftMovement or work period
- reversalComplete change of direction
turnabout · mutation · metamorphosis · evolution · revolution · conversion · modification · overhaul
ups and downs
Alternating good and bad
- twists and turnsFrequent direction changes
- reversalsChanges to opposite directions
- changesAlterations or transitions
shifts · swings · oscillations · variations · instability · unpredictability · volatility · inconstancy · mutability · fickleness
empires
Extensive ruled territories
- dynastiesSuccessive rulers from one family
- regimesSystems of government
- civilizationsComplex organized human societies
epochs · eras · revolutions · upheavals · wars · peace · conquests · defeats · reigns · succession
unpredictability
State resisting forecasts
- instabilityTendency toward unpredictable change
- precariousnessState of uncertain stability
- insecurityUncertainty about oneself
impermanence · transience · ephemerality · mutability · fickleness · capriciousness · inconstancy · changeability · unreliability
fate
Predetermined course of events
- destinyPredetermined course of events
- luckChance affecting outcomes
- prosperityGood fortune, success
adversity · misfortune · windfall · success · failure · boom · bust · riches · poverty · rise and fall
birth
Coming into the world
decline · milestones · transitions · stages · passages · seasons · maturation · senescence · childhood · adulthood
transformation
Thorough change in form
- upheavalViolent disturbance of order
- transitionChange from one state
- shiftMovement or work period
reversal · turnabout · mutation · metamorphosis · evolution · revolution · conversion · modification · overhaul · renewal
vicissitudesstability
Resistance to displacement
constancy · steadiness · permanence · immutability · unchangingness
vicissitudessmooth sailing
Untroubled progress forward
easy street · serenity · tranquility · calm · equanimity
vicissitudessmooth sailing
Untroubled progress forward
easy street · charmed life · plain sailing · bed of roses · even keel