metastable
Americanadjective
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Metallurgy. chemically unstable in the absence of certain conditions that would induce stability, but not liable to spontaneous transformation.
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Physics, Chemistry. Also pertaining to a body or system existing at an energy level metastable state above that of a more stable state and requiring the addition of a small amount of energy to induce a transition to the more stable state.
adjective
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(of a body or system) having a state of apparent equilibrium although capable of changing to a more stable state
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(of an atom, molecule, ion, or atomic nucleus) existing in an excited state with a relatively long lifetime
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of metastable
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Pairing that metastable phase with a O3-type cathode that has been coated with a chloride-based solid electrolyte can create thick, high-areal-loading cathodes that puts this new design beyond previous sodium batteries.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2025
Analogously, isolated social states such as the former country of East Germany can persist in a metastable state for decades until the isolating boundaries are breached by outside influences.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 11, 2024
Due to this complication, previous measurement setups for generating and determining negative pressures have required significant laboratory space and even posed a disturbance to the system in the metastable state.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 25, 2023
Visible light excites the atoms or molecules to metastable states that decay slowly, releasing the stored excitation energy partially as visible light.
From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015
It's a metastable state at best, all too likely to collapse into tyranny.
From The Sensitive Man by Anderson, Poul William
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
