Dictionary

fair-weather friend en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈfɛːˌwɛðə ˈfɹɛnd/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (General-American) audio
• (Australia) audio
• /ˈfɛɚˌwɛðɚ ˈfɹɛnd/ (General-American)
• /ˈfɛəˌwɛðə ˈfɹɛnd/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From fair-weather + friend, drawing an analogy between good weather and trouble-free times.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) One who is friendly, helpful, or available only when it is advantageous or convenient to be so.
   • She put little nosegays from her garden on his desk, and tried in every way to show that she was not a fair-weather friend, but faithful through evil as well as good repute. 1871, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, “Damon and Pythias”, in Little Men: […], Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC, page 238:
   • Ere long a portion of the village spire began to appear among the trees, and the gilded telltale on its top, in which the slippery politician, and the fair weather friend, and the doubting disciple, who is blown about by every wind of doctrine, may behold a happy emblem of life and practice. 1839, [Lucius M. Sargent], Right Opposite. Founded on Fact (The Temperance Tales; II, number 6), Boston, Mass.: Published by Whipple and Damrell, No. 9 Cornhill; New York, N.Y.: Scofield and Voorhies, No. 118 Nassau Street, →OCLC, page 14:
   • [T]he liberty of the press was not to be looked upon as fit only for seasons of calmness, as a fair-weather friend to be discarded in a storm. 1819 December 23, [Ralph] Bernal, “[House of Commons] Blasphemous Libel Bill”, in T[homas] C[urson] Hansard, editor, The Parliamentary Debates from the Year 1803 to the Present Time: Forming a Continuation of the Work Entitled “The Parliamentary History of England from the Earliest Period to the Year 1803.”, volume XLI (Comprising the Period from the Twenty-third Day of November, 1819, to the Twenty-eight Day of February, 1820), London: Printed by T. C. Hansard, Peterborough-Court, Fleet-Street; for Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy [et al.], published 1820, →OCLC, column 1524:
   • One respondent to a Gibbs and Humphries's research initiative characterised their senior management as ‘fair weather friends’ – keen to support the partnering initiative on day one and when things are going well, but eager to distance themselves when times got tough. 2015, Andrew Humphries, Richard Gibbs, “Operational Implications of Culture”, in Enterprise Relationship Management: A Paradigm for Alliance Success, Farnham, Surrey; Burlington, Vt.: Gower Publishing, →ISBN, page 63:
   • Be not pestered with too many friends. […] There are as many grades of friends as there are plaids in the tartan. There is the friend of "ifs, buts, and ands," who always signifies that he would if he could, but as he can't, how can he? Then comes your fair weather''' friend, who deserts you the very first time you founder in the mud! 1852, C. Toler Wolfe, “Nothing Like Travel”, in A Book of Odds and Ends, Winchester, Va.: Printed by C. Toler Wolfe, Republican Office, →OCLC, page 34:
   • She did not even attempt to make a reply, or to ask her fairweather friend to remain; but suffered her to leave the room and the house without a word. 1844, T[imothy] S[hay] Arthur, chapter VI, in Cecilia Howard: Or, The Young Lady who had Finished Her Education, New York, N.Y.: John Allen, 139 Nassau Street, →OCLC, page 49:
   • My Fair-weather Friends of the Summer are going away for London, and I ſhall ſee them and the butterflies together, if I live till next Year; which I would not deſire to do, if it were only for their ſakes. 1730 October 1, [Alexander] Pope, “Letters of Mr. Pope to Mr. Gay. From 1712. to 1730.”, in Letters of Mr. Pope, and Several Eminent Persons. From the Year 1705. to 1735. N.B. This Edition Contains More Letters, and More Correctly Printed, than Any Other Extant, London: Printed, and sold by the booksellers of London and Westminster, published 1735, →OCLC, page 255:
   • [Sandro] Pertini is being embraced as the leader of a staunch and increasingly important ally—a country that, as [Ronald] Reagan put it, "is no fair-weather friend but instead is an indispensable partner." 1982 April 5, “Italy: New Image, New Influence”, in Time, archived from the original on 16 Apr 2016:

Forms

Coordinates

all-weather friend

Deriveds

fair-weather friendship

Translations (13)

it amico di comdo (one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient) · es amigo de buen temperie (one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient) · fi hyvän sään ystävä (one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient) · it amico per convenienza (one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient) · pl but see przyjaciel (one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient) · ru друг до пе́рвой беды́ (one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient) · cmn 酒肉朋友 (one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient) · lv draugs pie pilnas bļodas (one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient) · pa ਫਸਲੀ ਬਟੇਰਾ (one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient) · hu érdekbarát (one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient) · th เพื่อนกิน (one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient) · tr iyi gün dostu (one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient) · de Schönwetterfreund (one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient)