destabilize
Americanverb (used with object)
-
destabilizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
destabilized,
past participle, past
-
destabilizing
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
destabilizesimple
-
destabilizessimple
-
have destabilizedperfect
-
has destabilizedperfect
-
am destabilizingprogressive
-
are destabilizingprogressive
-
is destabilizingprogressive
-
have been destabilizingperfect progressive
-
has been destabilizingperfect progressive
Past
-
destabilizedsimple
-
had destabilizedperfect
-
was destabilizingprogressive
-
were destabilizingprogressive
-
had been destabilizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of destabilize
Explanation
To destabilize something is to undermine it, or to make it much less stable. Seeming uncertain or confused can destabilize a teacher's ability to control a class. Political protesters might seek to destabilize a government or other institution, and lying to your best friend can destabilize your relationship. In both cases, the underlying stability of a situation is shaken, or made less sturdy. The earliest use of destabilize was in a physical sense, if something was literally unstable or shaky. By the 1920s, the word came to also have a more political meaning.
Vocabulary lists containing destabilize
Africa - Middle School
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Africa - High School
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Earth Science - Middle School
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Malkovich and Sam Rockwell play veteran CIA operatives who, after helping destabilize Salvador Allende’s government in 1973 Chile, head to Easter Island on a more personal assignment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
Repeated gravitational nudges from Jupiter can gradually destabilize asteroids in this region.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 18, 2026
A collective exit can destabilize the system and create a scramble to balance power supply and demand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
California’s budget experts have warned that maintaining full Medi-Cal coverage for immigrants without seeking additional revenue would destabilize the state’s long-term fiscal outlook.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
“It seems to me that you are all determined to start a panic that will destabilize everything we have worked for these last thirteen years!”
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
But that strategy has come into question as a warming planet destabilizes Himalayan glaciers and river systems.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
It spreads into South Sudan, it destabilizes South Sudan, it spreads into Chad, it’s got refugees in Egypt.
From Slate ● Nov. 20, 2025
Gating, in contrast, occurs when a heavy ion flow disrupts the charge balance and destabilizes the pore's structure.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 11, 2025
This enzyme destabilizes the proteins in the milk – the proteins then aggregate together and make a gel.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2024
This abrupt shift in narration destabilizes the reader — like the tremor of an earthquake, or the sudden loss of vision in one eye that Tunde experiences from time to time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2023
In January 2022, the landfast sea ice in the embayment suddenly broke apart, likely due to powerful ocean swells that destabilized the region.
From Science Daily ● May 19, 2026
Customers who feel destabilized financially by tariffs and global conflict have used the stores to try to find lower prices.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026
Surging energy prices destabilized stocks trading in Asia and Europe on Monday.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 2, 2026
Meanwhile, Tuesday marked four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine — a war that has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and destabilized European security.
From Salon ● Feb. 25, 2026
I thought Ocean would wake up, dizzy and destabilized by this emotional train wreck to discover that it hadn’t been worth it, actually; that I hadn’t been worth it.
From "A Very Large Expanse of Sea" by Tahereh Mafi
Unless you go through it, it can be difficult to understand how destabilizing a false positive can be.
From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026
Meanwhile, ice vanishing due to climate warming is steadily destabilizing mountainous regions like the Himalayas, scientists say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
Watching egocentrism augment in real time, on a mass scale, is as heartbreaking and destabilizing as death itself.
From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026
“If the answers are honest and you can afford it without destabilizing yourself, have the best time and go! Don’t let anyone guilt you out of joy you’ve budgeted for,” she told MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 12, 2026
Three profoundly destabilizing scientific ideas ricochet through the twentieth century, trisecting it into three unequal parts: the atom, the byte, the gene.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
