Adjacent Words

Unstable definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

UNSTA'BLE, a. [l. instabilis.]
1. Not stable; not fixed.
2. Not steady; inconstant; irresolute; wavering. James 1.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: lacking stability or fixity or firmness; "unstable political conditions"; "the tower proved to be unstable in the high wind"; "an unstable world economy" [ant: stable]
2: highly or violently reactive; "sensitive and highly unstable compounds"
3: affording no ease or reassurance; "a precarious truce" [syn: precarious, unstable]
4: suffering from severe mental illness; "of unsound mind" [syn: mentally ill, unsound, unstable]
5: disposed to psychological variability; "his rather unstable religious convictions"
6: subject to change; variable; "a fluid situation fraught with uncertainty"; "everything was unstable following the coup" [syn: fluid, unstable]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 13th century not stable ; not firm or fixed ; not constant: as a. not steady in action or movement ; irregular <an unstable pulse> b. wavering in purpose or intent ; vacillating c. lacking steadiness ; apt to move, sway, or fall <an unstable tower> d. (1) liable to change or alteration <an unstable economy> <unstable weather> (2) readily changing (as by decomposing) in chemical or physical composition or in biological activity e. characterized by lack of emotional control Synonyms: see inconstant • unstableness noun • unstably adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. (unstabler, unstablest) 1 not stable. 2 changeable. 3 showing a tendency to sudden mental or emotional changes. Phrases and idioms: unstable equilibrium a state in which a body when disturbed tends to move farther from equilibrium. Derivatives: unstableness n. unstably adv.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Unstable Un*sta"ble, a. [Cf. Instable.] Not stable; not firm, fixed, or constant; subject to change or overthrow. -- Un*sta"ble*ness, n. Chaucer. Unstable equilibrium. See Stable equilibrium, under Stable.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. You can describe something as unstable if it is likely to change suddenly, especially if this creates difficulty or danger. After the fall of Pitt in 1801 there was a decade of unstable government... The situation is unstable and potentially dangerous. ? stable ADJ 2. Unstable objects are likely to move or fall. Both clay and sandstone are unstable rock formations. ? stable ADJ 3. If people are unstable, their emotions and behaviour keep changing because their minds are disturbed or upset. He was emotionally unstable... ? stable ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Unsteady, insecure, unsafe, precarious. 2. Inconstant, changeable, unsteady, fickle, weak, vacillating, irresolute, wavering, erratic.

Moby Thesaurus

adrift, afloat, alternating, ambiguous, amorphous, borderline, brittle, buoyant, canted, capricious, changeable, changeful, changing, choppy, corruptible, crumbling, dangerous, deciduous, decrepit, desultory, deviable, deviating, deviative, deviatory, dickey, different, disintegrating, disorderly, divaricate, divergent, diversified, diversiform, dizzy, doubtful, dubious, dying, eccentric, effervescent, elastic, ephemeral, erose, erratic, evanescent, fading, fast and loose, fickle, fitful, fleeting, flickering, flighty, flitting, fluctuant, fluctuating, fluid, fly-by-night, flying, fragile, frail, freakish, fugacious, fugitive, giddy, hazardous, heeling, ill-balanced, impermanent, impetuous, impulsive, inconsistent, inconstant, indecisive, indefinite, infirm, insecure, insubstantial, irregular, irresolute, irresponsible, jagged, jerky, leaning, listing, lopsided, lubricious, mazy, mercurial, mobile, momentary, moody, mortal, motley, moving, mutable, nonconformist, nondurable, nonpermanent, nonstandard, nonuniform, off-balance, overbalanced, passing, perilous, perishable, pluralistic, poor, poorish, precarious, protean, provisional, ragged, rambling, resilient, restless, risky, rocky, rootless, rotten, rotten at, rough, roving, scatterbrained, shaky, shapeless, short-lived, shuffling, slippery, spasmodic, spineless, sporadic, suspect, temperamental, temporal, temporary, tentative, tergiversating, ticklish, top-heavy, tottery, transient, transitive, transitory, treacherous, tricky, unaccountable, unbalanced, uncertain, uncontrolled, undecided, undependable, undisciplined, undurable, unenduring, unequable, unequal, uneven, unfaithworthy, unfirm, unfixed, unhealthy, unorthodox, unpredictable, unreliable, unrestrained, unsafe, unsettled, unsolid, unsound, unstable as water, unstaid, unsteadfast, unsteady, unsturdy, unsubstantial, unsure, unsystematic, untrustworthy, ununiform, vacillating, vagrant, variable, variegated, variform, various, varying, vicissitudinary, vicissitudinous, volatile, wandering, wanton, wavering, wavery, wavy, wayward, weak, whimsical, wishy-washy, wobbly