mutability

American  

[myoo-tuh-bil-i-tee] / ˌmyu təˈbɪl ɪ ti /

Rarely mutableness

noun

1. the quality of being liable to undergo change or alteration.

   With the realization of cancer's mutability, they now fear it might not be the same disease in everyone.

2. the quality of constantly changing; transient or transitory quality.

   National borders can have a permanence that contrasts with the almost infinite mutability of the cultures contained within them.

3. Computers. (in object-oriented programming) the characteristic of an object having properties whose values can change while the object itself maintains a unique identity.

   The mutability of the "sales report" object allows properties like sales period and salesperson to be updated without losing the reference to the report elsewhere in the application.

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Other Word Forms

• hypermutability
  noun
• hypermutableness
  noun
• nonmutability
  noun
• nonmutableness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of mutability

First recorded in 1400–50; from French mutabilité, from Latin mūtābilitāt-, stem of mūtābilitās “changeability,” equivalent to mūtābili(s) “changeable” ( see mutable ( def. )) + -tās -ty ² ( def. )

Explanation

Mutability means the quality of being changeable. Caterpillars, on their way to becoming butterflies, display a great deal of mutability. An easy way to remember mutability is to think about a word it sounds like, mutant. A mutant is someone who has been changed, irrevocably, so mutability is the ability to change. It's the mutability of the Internet that makes it so wonderful and confusing at the same time. You might tell your friend who was sweet and kind yesterday, but is mean and awful today, that you wish she didn't have such a tendency to mutability.

Example Sentences

First-time feature director Rachael Abigail Holder’s cinematic postcard to loss and mutability is an attractive tableau of aged brownstones and new hot spots, canopied streets and hilly parks.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 5, 2025

The mutability is a lovely parallel for the filmgoing itself.

From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2025

At one point, as I was peppering him with questions about his mutability, he gestured to consumers throughout the store.

From New York Times • May 28, 2023

The subjects’ mutability echoes the local artist’s slippery style, which incorporates collage and shifts easily from realism to expressionism.

From Washington Post • Mar. 24, 2023

He took out some paper and a soft pencil and wrote down a rough argument for the mutability of species.

From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman

Related Words

• anxiety
• fluctuation
• insecurity
• uncertainty
• volatility
• vulnerability
• weakness