Chameleon

You are a chameleon, i.e. very changeable—shifting according to the opinions of others, as the chameleon changes its hue to that of contiguous objects.

“As the chameleon, who is known

To have no colours of its own,

But borrows from his neighbour’s hue,

His white or black, his green or blue.”

Prior.

⁂ Pliny tells us that Democrĭtus wrote a book on superstitions connected with the chameleon.

Cʹest un cameleon. One who shifts his opinions according to circumstances; a vicar of Bray.

To chameleonise is to change one’s opinions as a chameleon changes its colour.

· ·

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.