volatile
[vol-uh-tl, -til or, esp. British, -tahyl]
- evaporating rapidly; passing off readily in the form of vapor: Acetone is a volatile solvent.
- tending or threatening to break out into open violence; explosive: a volatile political situation.
- changeable; mercurial; flighty: a volatile disposition.
- (of prices, values, etc.) tending to fluctuate sharply and regularly: volatile market conditions.
- fleeting; transient: volatile beauty.
- Computers. of or relating to storage that does not retain data when electrical power is turned off or fails.
- able to fly or flying.
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- a volatile substance, as a gas or solvent.
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Origin of volatile
Synonyms
See more synonyms for volatile on Thesaurus.com2. eruptive, unstable, unsettled.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for volatility
Contemporary Examples
Volatility of reputation and subjectivity of quality make it difficult to define the novel in terms of absolute excellence.
To be fair, there are nonpartisan, academic roots to the vision of the Cold War as a model of stability, not volatility.
I loved the volatility to his reaction and the deception, and then her walking away with the security guards to the elevator.
He fears, especially, the volatility of it all: the checkpoints, the nearby Israeli settlements, and the bombings.
A Camp Away From Terror: Where Israeli and Palestinian Kids Find Common GroundNina Strochlic
August 4, 2014
But given the volatility of the last week, how long will that last?
Historical Examples
She was no more appalled by the loss than by the perception of her own volatility.
The Letter of the ContractBasil King
He is no more chargeable with volatility than society itself.
She wanted much of the gaiety, but with it the volatility of her younger sister.
The Purcell PapersJoseph Sheridan Le Fanu
Their control in this way intimated a volatility which was not perceptible in their sentiment.
The March Family Trilogy, CompleteWilliam Dean Howells
Free acetic acid reddens litmus paper, like the other acids; and may be readily recognised by its odour and volatility:—2.
volatile
- (of a substance) capable of readily changing from a solid or liquid form to a vapour; having a high vapour pressure and a low boiling point
- (of persons) disposed to caprice or inconstancy; fickle; mercurial
- (of circumstances) liable to sudden, unpredictable, or explosive change
- lasting only a short timevolatile business interests
- computing (of a memory) not retaining stored information when the power supply is cut off
- obsolete flying or capable of flight; volant
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- a volatile substance
- rare a winged creature
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Word Origin
C17: from Latin volātīlis flying, from volāre to fly
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for volatility
volatile
adj.
1590s "fine or light," also "evaporating rapidly" (c.1600), from Middle French volatile, from Latin volatilis "fleeting, transitory, flying," from past participle stem of volare "to fly" (see volant). Sense of "readily changing, fickle" is first recorded 1640s. Volatiles in Middle English meant "birds, butterflies, and other winged creatures" (c.1300).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
volatile
(vŏl′ə-tl, -tīl′)- Evaporating readily at normal temperatures and pressures.
- That can be readily vaporized.
- Tending to violence; explosive, as of behavior.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
volatile
[vŏl′ə-tl]
- Changing easily from liquid to vapor at normal temperatures and pressures. Essential oils used in perfumes are highly volatile.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.