chameleon

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Pronunciation

• enPR: kəmē'lēən, IPA: /kəˈmiːlɪən/; enPR: kəmēl'yən, IPA: /kəˈmiːljən/

Noun

chameleon (plural chameleons)

1. A small to mid-size reptile, of the family Chamaeleonidae, and one of the best known lizard families able to change color and project its long tongue.
2. A person with inconstant behavior; one able to quickly adjust to new circumstances.
   • 2014, Michael White, "Roll up, roll up! The Amazing Salmond will show a Scotland you won't believe ↗", The Guardian, 8 September 2014:

     He is a political chameleon, as charming to business leaders he met privately in Aberdeen on Friday night as he has been inspiring to distressed and desperate Labour defectors in Glasgow and beyond.

3. (physics) A hypothetical scalar particle with a non-linear self-interaction, giving it an effective mass that depends on its environment: the presence of other fields.

Translations

• French: caméléon
• German: Chamäleon
• Italian: camaleonte
• Portuguese: camaleão
• Russian: хамелео́н
• Spanish: camaleón

Translations

• Italian: camaleonte
• Portuguese: camaleão
• Spanish: camaleón

Adjective

chameleon (not comparable)

1. Describing something that changes color.

   The wall was covered with a chameleon paint.

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