destabilize
Americanverb (used with object)
-
destabilizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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destabilized,
past participle, past
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destabilizing
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
destabilizesimple
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destabilizessimple
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have destabilizedperfect
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has destabilizedperfect
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am destabilizingprogressive
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are destabilizingprogressive
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is destabilizingprogressive
-
have been destabilizingperfect progressive
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has been destabilizingperfect progressive
Past
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destabilizedsimple
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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
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Africa - High School
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Earth Science - Middle School
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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:
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
"Iran's history goes back thousands of years. Things like this only make us stronger; they won't destabilize the team," boasted the Iranian-American, who had traveled from San Diego, just across the border in California.
From Barron's ● Jun. 7, 2026
Strong winds can destabilize the spinning column or cause it to collapse altogether.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2026
In many laser architectures, these nonlinear effects can destabilize the laser pulses.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 4, 2026
They might “build on public panic to further destabilize the system by disseminating rumors” and therefore “increase media coverage” and “stress the public health system.”
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
SYDNEY—New Zealand’s economic recovery remained frustratingly tentative in the fourth quarter of last year, with economists warning that the outlook faces fresh threats as the war in the Middle East destabilizes the world economy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 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
Nick’s energized romantic do-si-do destabilizes the group, and gives them something new to gossip about and compare their own lives with as they wobble through the ensuing year.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2025
This enzyme destabilizes the proteins in the milk – the proteins then aggregate together and make a gel.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2024
When the new actin subunit arrives, its incorporation onto the filament destabilizes the formin arrangement and requires the stable half-ring to step onto the new subunit and become loose, while the other half-ring becomes stable.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 16, 2024
As someone who was a freelance writer for about a year, I can empathize with the desire to keep your life flexible while also feeling destabilized by the lack of structure.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
“We’re making it a reality that our schools are going to be very much more destabilized than they have been,” Griego said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026
Their results indicate that about eight out of 10 planets around tight binary stars would be destabilized, and most of those would ultimately be destroyed.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 19, 2026
Even if the active fighting ends within weeks, the deeper concern is whether a destabilized Iran becomes a permanent source of risk on Dubai’s doorstep.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 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
Technicians monitoring the monument’s 140 microfractures have noted that further high-impact sculpting would risk catastrophic rockfalls, potentially destabilizing the scupture of Abraham Lincoln.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 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
Instead of targeting genetic mutations, the team found a method for destabilizing the machinery cancer cells use to repair DNA.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 10, 2026
Mine shafts were bored through the earth like holes through Swiss cheese, often destabilizing whole valleys.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
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.
