stability
Americannoun
-
stabilities
plural
-
the state or quality of being stable.
-
firmness in position.
-
continuance without change; permanence.
-
Chemistry. resistance or the degree of resistance to chemical change or disintegration.
-
resistance to change, especially sudden change or deterioration.
The stability of the economy encourages investment.
-
steadfastness; constancy, as of character or purpose.
The job calls for a great deal of emotional stability.
-
Aeronautics. the ability of an aircraft to return to its original flying position when abruptly displaced.
-
Roman Catholic Church. a vow taken by a Benedictine monk, binding him to residence for life in the same monastery in which he made the vow.
noun
-
the quality of being stable
-
the ability of an aircraft to resume its original flight path after inadvertent displacement
-
meteorol
-
the condition of an air or water mass characterized by no upward movement
-
the degree of susceptibility of an air mass to disturbance by convection currents
-
-
ecology the ability of an ecosystem to resist change
-
electrical engineering the ability of an electrical circuit to cope with changes in the operational conditions
-
a vow taken by every Benedictine monk attaching him perpetually to the monastery where he is professed
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of stability
First recorded in 1400–50; from Latin stabilitās, from stabili(s) stable 2 + -tās -ty 2; replacing late Middle English stablete, from Old French, from Latin, as above
Explanation
Stability is the quality of being unchanging. You know you should be congratulated on your commitment to stability when you’ve lived in the same place your whole life. Stability is often used to describe buildings or structures that won't collapse or fall down. Good tires will help you maintain stability on snowy or icy roads. You can use the word more figuratively for a safe environment or a healthy mental state. Financial and political stability are to be desired. Hopefully you will provide your children stability and love. When you have violent outbursts, people began to doubt your mental stability.
Vocabulary lists containing stability
The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 6
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Unlike earlier prototypes, the new nuclear clock can maintain its own stability without depending on a conventional atomic clock.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
She added: "We are introducing rules designed to promote the stability and parliamentary coherence of any government, regardless of its political colour."
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
"Equally, if there is loss of confidence and money runs away from AI, that can lead to financial stability risks."
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
They can also trigger a scramble for better returns that pushes investors into riskier assets, undermining financial stability.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
They decided I needed some sort of support, something that would give me a closer to normal stance and provide stability.
From "Ugly" by Robert Hoge
"Many stability-based concepts, characteristics and phenomena within the physical sciences find analogous expression in the influences on the relative stabilities of socio-political systems."
From Science Daily ● Jan. 11, 2024
In 2021, Li and his team offered one way to deal with dendrites by designing a multilayer battery that sandwiched different materials of varying stabilities between the anode and cathode.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 8, 2024
Salzmann, C. G., Mayer, E. & Hallbrucker, A. Thermal properties of metastable ices IV and XII: comparison, isotope effects and relative stabilities.
From Nature ● Nov. 7, 2017
In the preceding problem, what are the stabilities of the equilibria 0 < P1 < P2 ?
From Textbooks ● Mar. 30, 2016
Hear again the voice, not of the prophet, but of the astronomer: "Around us lie stabilities of every order; but it is stability only that we see, not permanence."
From Fables of Infidelity and Facts of Faith Being an Examination of the Evidences of Infidelity by Robert Patterson
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.
