instability
Americannoun
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instabilities
plural
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the quality or state of being unstable; lack of stability or firmness.
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the tendency to behave in an unpredictable, changeable, or erratic manner.
emotional instability.
noun
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lack of stability or steadiness
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tendency to variable or unpredictable behaviour
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physics a fast growing disturbance or wave in a plasma
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of instability
1375–1425; late Middle English instabilite < Latin instabilitās. See in- 3, stability
Explanation
Instability is the quality of not being stable, balanced, or predictable. If you've ever walked out onto a diving board, you've probably noticed its instability — meaning the board bends and bounces as you move. Instability comes from the Middle French word instabilite, meaning "unsteadiness." Instability can refer to objects that are not stable, but it can also describe unpredictable situations or relationships. For example, you might hear people talk about economic instability. Or if your behavior at school grows erratic and unpredictable, you might be asked to speak to a therapist about your psychological instability.
Vocabulary lists containing instability
Southeast Asia - Middle School
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Southeast Asia - High School
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Second Democratic Debate 20 words
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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:
Heightened instability in the Middle East is also pushing up costs for shipping in the Red Sea.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Aggressive expansions typically come with plenty of risk: an immediate strain on resources, profit instability, and possibly outgrowing the existing business model.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
It demeans the entire nation, and adds to the instability in the world.
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026
None of the works address the recent bombardments directly, although the precarious context of ongoing threat, instability and struggle can be felt in almost all of them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
But he may also, to some extent, be a beneficiary of this ongoing instability.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
The researchers believe these swirling flows are evidence of Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities, a familiar phenomenon in fluid dynamics.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026
Its present size and depth, approximately 350 km wide, line up well with predictions for these slow-moving mantle instabilities.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 25, 2025
These persistent instabilities can affect everything from uplift and erosion to inland volcanic patterns, even in regions considered geologically stable.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 25, 2025
The researchers also demonstrated that they could use the ring-shaped beam to drill deeper into the material without causing instabilities in the process.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 22, 2024
What rot!—as if that ever attracted me, with its false pretenses of heart, its instabilities and downright treacheries.
From Sacrifice by Stephen French Whitman
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.
