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/məːˈkjʊə.ɹɪ.əl/ · noun
(obsolete) Any of the plants known as mercury, especially the annual mercury or French mercury (Mercurialis annua)..
As for [Lambert] Simnell, there was not much in him, more then that hee was a handſome Boy, and did not ſhame his Robes. But this Youth (of whom wee are now to ſpeake) was ſuch a Mercuriall, as the like hath ſeldome beene knowne; and could make his owne part, if at any time hee chanced to bee out.
She had paſſed through the milder Remedies frequently without ſucceſs: upon which account I deſigned Mercurialls; and beginning with Venæſection, afterwards purged her with decoct. epithymi, as it is preſcribed in the method of Cure. [...] After I had thus evacuated the Plethora, and diſpoſed her body for Mercurialls more operative, I gave her each morning and evening a few grains of Mercur. diaphoret. in a bolus with conſ. lujule and Mithridate, [...]
[A] small dose of the mercurial may cause excessive salivation; and, if this discharge be attended by much soreness of throat, it is most difficult to determine whether the salivation is actually the result of the mercurial, or merely symptomatic of the sore throat and cold. If it proceed from the mercurial, there will generally be some tenderness of the gums, a soft and flabby state of the sides of the tongue, and it will generally be more obstinate.
his mercurial temperament
[Y]our Mercuriall wit hath mangonized a Gigantean fury with an humble hue.
When the ſoule bringeth its fire deſire out of its owne ſelfe-will into the Love-deſire of God; and goeth out of its owne ſelfneſſe, and ſinketh into the mercy and compaſſion of God, and caſteth it ſelfe into the death of Chriſt; and willeth no longer the fire-ſource, but deſireth in its fire-life to be dead in the death of Chriſt; then the poyſon of the Mercuriall life dyeth in the will of iniquity, and there ariſeth a new twigge, and budding of love-deſire.
Use mercurial when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
Mercurial means (obsolete) Any of the plants known as mercury, especially the annual mercury or French mercury (Mercurialis annua)..
Common synonyms include fickle, unpredictable, Hermesian, erratic.
The opposite depends on the specific sense.
As for [Lambert] Simnell, there was not much in him, more then that hee was a handſome Boy, and did not ſhame his Robes. But this Youth (of whom wee are now to ſpeake) was ſuch a Mercuriall, as the like hath ſeldome beene knowne; and could make his owne part, if at any time hee chanced to bee out.
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From the natural Mercurial Briskneſs of her [Sally Salisbury's] Temper, a ſedentary Life had ever been her Averſion, wherefore ſhe rather choſe to follow the Fortunes of a Wheel-Barrow, than thoſe of a Diſtaff; [...]
Robert Maxwell, who has died aged 68, was one of the most mercurial postwar operators not only in the British media but British commerce generally, a self-made individualist who managed - just - to keep a fitful peace with the mores of a British corporate scene notoriously unaccepting of flamboyant personalities.