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:
He fled his native Haiti, which was gripped by political instability and gang warfare.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026
As an example of its aims, Anthropic said it would study and address labor instability driven by AI.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026
Anthropic previously committed $200 million to studying and addressing AI-driven labor market instability.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026
"Poverty, insecurity and the growing impacts of climate change drive many to undertake this journey, despite mounting instability across the Middle East," the IOM said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
“I know what removal would mean. I’m not a child. It would mean complete instability, with no nonimaginary solutions to the positronic Field Equations.”
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
“We now have shocks that unleash endogenous instabilities that trigger new shocks,” she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
Those conditions could provide exactly what is needed for Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities to form.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026
Its present size and depth, approximately 350 km wide, line up well with predictions for these slow-moving mantle instabilities.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 25, 2025
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
They involve an unceasing struggle against the infirmities of his nature and the instabilities of his position.
From A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century Fourth Edition by Agnes M. (Agnes Mary) Clerke
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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.
