volatile
- 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.
- a volatile substance, as a gas or solvent.
Origin of volatile
Synonyms for volatile
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comRelated Words for volatility
buoyancy, unpredictability, dryness, vaporization, lightness, levity, explosivenessExamples from the Web for volatility
Contemporary Examples of volatility
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 of volatility
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
- a volatile substance
- rare a winged creature
Word Origin for volatile
Word Origin and History for volatility
volatile
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).
volatile
(vŏl′ə-tl, -tīl′)- Evaporating readily at normal temperatures and pressures.
- That can be readily vaporized.
- Tending to violence; explosive, as of behavior.
volatile
- Changing easily from liquid to vapor at normal temperatures and pressures. Essential oils used in perfumes are highly volatile.