instability

American  

[in-stuh-bil-i-tee] / ˌɪn stəˈbɪl ɪ ti /

noun

1. the quality or state of being unstable; lack of stability or firmness.

2. the tendency to behave in an unpredictable, changeable, or erratic manner.

   emotional instability.

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instability British  

/ ˌɪnstəˈbɪlɪtɪ /

noun

1. lack of stability or steadiness

2. tendency to variable or unpredictable behaviour

3. physics a fast growing disturbance or wave in a plasma

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Etymology

Origin of instability

1375–1425; late Middle English instabilite < Latin instabilitās. See in- ³, stability

Example Sentences

Considering the recent instability and sour sentiment, it is easy to doubt the company.

From Barron's

Its present size and depth, approximately 350 km wide, line up well with predictions for these slow-moving mantle instabilities.

From Science Daily

Training for the Kurdish guards at the facilities is inconsistent because they are pulled away often to deal with instability elsewhere, the inspector general reported.

From The Wall Street Journal

Security has improved significantly in the country, but instability persists in the east near the Sudanese borders.

From Barron's

Yet Damascus’s fostering instability by excluding and massacring communities will undermine that opportunity by inviting renewed foreign interference.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• anxiety
• fluctuation
• insecurity
• uncertainty
• volatility
• vulnerability
• weakness