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:
Adobe stock drops Monday after receiving a double downgrade from Wells Fargo, which cited worsening organic growth, executive instability, and a loss in pricing power.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
Despite this conflict - and growing instability across the wider region - migrants still cross the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Yemen driven by poverty, insecurity and the growing impacts of climate change.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
Scientists have long investigated the possibility of thermal "runaway" instability.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026
It also often leads to housing instability, academic withdrawal, and family dissolution.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
But he may also, to some extent, be a beneficiary of this ongoing instability.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
“We now have shocks that unleash endogenous instabilities that trigger new shocks,” she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
The researchers believe these swirling flows are evidence of Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities, a familiar phenomenon in fluid dynamics.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026
These instabilities have been a major obstacle to improving fusion performance.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 4, 2026
However, the high-confinement mode has historically come hand-in-hand with instabilities at the plasma's edge, a challenge that has required fusion researchers to find creative workarounds.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2024
Trax's recovery from his psychological instabilities wasn't as definitive.
From Underground by Suelette Dreyfus
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
