Phrase guide

fair-weather friend

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈfɛəˌwɛðə ˈfɹɛnd/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈfɛːˌwɛðə ˈfɹɛnd/
  • General-American: /ˈfɛɚˌwɛðɚ ˈfɹɛnd/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

One who is friendly, helpful, or available only when it is advantageous or convenient to be so.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

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

Across languages

Translations

13 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 酒肉朋友 (jiǔròu péngyǒu) — one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient
  • Finnish: hyvän sään ystävä — one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient
  • German: Schönwetterfreund — one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient
  • Hungarian: érdekbarát — one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient
  • Italian: amico per convenienza — one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient
  • Italian: amico di comdo — one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient
  • Latvian: draugs pie pilnas bļodas — one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient
  • Polish: but see przyjaciel — one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient
  • Punjabi: ਫਸਲੀ ਬਟੇਰਾ (phaslī baṭerā) — one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient
  • Russian: друг до пе́рвой беды́ (drug do pérvoj bedý) — one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient
  • Spanish: amigo de buen temperie — one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient
  • Thai: เพื่อนกิน (pʉ̂ʉan-gin) — one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient
  • Turkish: iyi gün dostu — one who is friendly, etc., only when it is advantageous or convenient