instability
Americannoun
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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:
Regional instability, including wars in Iran and Lebanon, has delayed troop commitments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
“We are already in the midst of a declared emergency and every family we can keep from losing their home is a family spared the trauma and instability of homelessness.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
“AI hype and exuberant financial markets” could sow the seeds of instability.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
While Sánchez, a former foreign trade minister, stood on a platform of broad economic reforms, Fujimori benefited from concerns over crime and political instability dominating the race.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
All over Levittown and the smaller, nearby communities that feed into Truman, it isn’t usually poverty I observe, but rather the steady, low-simmering tumult of economic and family instability.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
When applied to cosmic scales, this suggests that plasma instabilities alone are too weak to account for the missing gamma rays.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 7, 2025
Combining high-speed synchrotron X-ray imaging, theoretical analysis and numerical simulation, the researchers revealed the defect mitigation mechanisms, which involve phenomena that reduce instabilities in the laser powder bed fusion process.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 22, 2024
If instead the researchers can improve the model's ability to recognize the precursors to these harmful instabilities, it could be possible to optimize the system without encountering a single edge burst.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2024
The researchers reported their findings on May 11 in Nature Communications, underscoring the vast potential of machine learning and other artificial intelligence systems to quickly quash plasma instabilities.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2024
Our turning away would unleash new instabilities, new dangers around the globe, which, in turn, would threaten our own security.
From State of the Union Address by Ford, Gerald R.
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.
