destabilize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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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
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have been destabilizingperfect progressive
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has been destabilizingperfect progressive
Past
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destabilizedsimple
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had destabilizedperfect
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was destabilizingprogressive
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were destabilizingprogressive
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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:
Instead of repairing genetic material, too much EXO1 can break down DNA and destabilize the genome, a key feature of cancer.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 20, 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
Critics worry that such a move would destabilize the economy and cause mortgage rates to spike.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026
“It seems to me that you are all determined to start a panic that will destabilize everything we have worked for these last thirteen years!”
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
The researchers found that excess EXO1 destabilizes newly formed DNA through two main mechanisms, expanding single-stranded DNA gaps and degrading reversed replication forks.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 20, 2026
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
I date occasionally and nothing destabilizes these men more than when I say, hey, really enjoying our time together, but I never wanna get married ever again.
From Salon ● Feb. 20, 2024
This abrupt shift in narration destabilizes the reader — like the tremor of an earthquake, or the sudden loss of vision in one eye that Tunde experiences from time to time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2023
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
Surging energy prices destabilized stocks trading in Asia and Europe on Monday.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 2, 2026
Meanwhile, Tuesday marked four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine — a war that has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and destabilized European security.
From Salon ● Feb. 25, 2026
These actions undermined the slaveholders’ power, destabilized systems of slavery and, in some cases, hastened the enactment of emancipatory laws.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 26, 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
Other fears, such as destabilizing job loss, strike me as overblown or unduly speculative.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 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
“I think both countries understand that it is in neither one of our interests to see anything destabilizing happen in that part of the world,” he added.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 10, 2026
Over and over again, I heard the same story: the police and the defense force were destabilizing the area.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
