caprice Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a sudden desire
    whim; impulse.
    • he bought it on an impulse

WordNet

Ca*price" noun
Etymology
F. caprice, It. capriccio, caprice (perh. orig. a fantastical goat leap), fr. L. caper, capra, goat. Cf Capriole, Cab, Caper, v. i.
Definitions
  1. An abrupt change in feeling, opinion, or action, proceeding from some whim or fancy; a freak; a notion. "Caprices of appetite." W. Irving.
  2. (Mus.) See Capriccio. Syn. -- Freak; whim; crotchet; fancy; vagary; humor; whimsey; fickleness.

Webster 1913