Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use volatile in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, noun

Volatile means evaporating or vaporizing readily under normal conditions. Example: “These microbes are primarily responsible for breaking down cellulose and other carbohydrates into volatile fatty acids (VFAs).”

Examples of volatile by meaning

adjectiveOf a price, variable or erratic.

  • Its pricing is highly volatile — and therefore highly risky.2024 November 19, Jeanne Sahadi, “Bitcoin has smashed records. Should you invest?”, in CNN Business, archived from the original on 04 Jun...

adjectiveOf a person, quick to become angry or violent.

  • a volatile man

adjectiveFickle.

  • Bush plans to pour more arms into this unstable region and add fuel to the volatile powderkeg he has foolishly created.2007 August 1, “Unwise Arms Deal With Saudi Arabia (2 Letters)”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 26 Nov 2022

adjectiveOf a variable etc., having its associated memory immediately updated with any changes in value.

  • This method stores a value into a non-volatile field called result, then stores true in the volatile field finished.2010, Jon Jagger, Nigel Perry, Peter Sestoft, Annotated C# Standard, page 467

nounA variable that is volatile, i.e. has its associated memory immediately updated with any change in value.

  • Operations on C++ volatiles do put the compiler on notice that the object may be modified asynchronously, and hence are generally safer to use than ordinary variable accesses.2011, Victor Pankratius, Ali-Reza Adl-Tabatabai, Walter Tichy, Fundamentals of Multicore Software Development, page 74

More sentences with volatile

  • These microbes are primarily responsible for breaking down cellulose and other carbohydrates into volatile fatty acids (VFAs).From the entry carbohydrate
  • A hard drive is nonvolatile, but RAM is volatile.From the entry nonvolatile
  • Jack is considered a loose cannon due to his volatile personality and his track record of being unable to maintain his composure.From the entry loose cannon
  • President Nixon tried to make leaders of communist bloc countries believe he was a volatile, irrational pugilist.2025 April 16, Laurent Belsie, “Why Trump’s ‘madman theory’ tactics could run aground amid trade reversals”, in The Christian Science…. From the entry pugilist
  • If you want to win Wimbledon, you have to be controlled mentally, but he's too volatile.2024 June 20, Katherine Reilly, Match Point: an enemies to lovers tennis romance perfect for fans of Wimbledon, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN. From the entry bottle it
  • One which stays close to the skin because the materials used to make it are less volatile.2021, Sarah McCartney, Samantha Scriven, The Perfume Companion […] , Frances Lincoln, →ISBN, page 283. From the entry projection
  • But the site's system is volatile, and not all original content is well-received.2019 May 31, Brian Burlage, “Confessions of a Reddit 'Karma Whore'”, in Vice. From the entry karma whore
  • Trump, the volatile presence who alpha-dogged a season of Republican debates.2016 September 27, James Poniewozik, “How the Split Screen Framed Trump and Clinton”, in The New York Times. From the entry alpha-dog
  • Fieldscale venting applications have successfully recovered large quantities of volatile organics from contaminated soil.1993, K. V. Paliwal, Industrial waste disposal and sewage irrigation, page 175. From the entry fieldscale
  • In this article we called attention to the fact that blue ointment was more volatile than calomel.1919, Journal of the American Medical Association, volume 73. From the entry blue ointment
  • Methyl methacrylate is a clear, colorless liquid that is highly volatile and releases energy exothermically when it reacts.2026 May 24, Geoff Brumfiel, “California chemical tank has cracked, causing state of emergency, thousands to evacuate”, in National Public…. From the entry exothermically
  • The selectivity of sensilla coeloconica olfactory sensory neurons was investigated and demonstrated sensitivity to fifteen vertebrate-related volatiles, including ammonia.2024 November 2, Wikipedia contributors, “Calyptra thalictri”, in English Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation. From the entry coeloconicum
  • He was privy to her volatile love life.April 5 2022, Tina Brown, “How Princess Diana’s Dance With the Media Impacted William and Harry”, in Vanity Fair. From the entry privy
  • Gas prices cooled down slightly in April but were still at elevated levels, while oil prices remain volatile.2022 May 17, Coral Murphy Marcos, “Retail sales rise for the fourth straight month as prices keep climbing.”, in The New York Times. From the entry cool down
  • Volatile yet stubborn, self-interested yet a modern Joan of Arc—criticisms of Richardson were as contradictory as they claimed her to be.2020, Lindsay Harroff, “From Sitting In to Sitting Out: Gloria Richardson and the 1963 Cambridge Movement”, in Lesli K. Pace, Sean Patrick…. From the entry Joan of Arc
  • Confronted with infobesity, their attention is rare and volatile.2011, Florence Devouard, “Collective Intelligence and Business Enterprise 2.0”, in Moira Cockell, Jérôme Billotte, Frédéric Darbellay…. From the entry infobesity
  • 'He was a volatile personality, hot-tempered, hot-natured,' remembers Bob.1999, Nick Wood, Coffin Nails and Tombstone Trails, →ISBN. From the entry hot-natured
  • Volatiles of kecap manis and its raw materials were extracted using Likens-Nickerson apparatus with diethyl ether as the extraction solvent.1997, A. J. Taylor, D. S. Mothram, editors, Flavour Science: Recent Developments, Elsevier, →ISBN, page 63. From the entry volume
  • He combined styrene with isobutylene, a volatile liquid, under pressure.1996 April 2, Julia Campbell, “Ray McIntire, 77, Dow Engineer And the Inventor Of Styrofoam”, in The New York Times. From the entry styrene
  • A gang of sidehackers, led by sidehacking champion Rommel, doesn't like another gang of sidehackers, led by the volatile J.C.1996, Trace Beaulieu, The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide, Bantam, →ISBN. From the entry sidehacking
  • In ultrametamorphism, useful components and volatiles, particularly water, are mobilized before partial anatexis or palingenesis of rocks takes place.1984, Miloš Kužvart, “Origin of Industrial Minerals and Rocks”, in H. Zárubová, transl., edited by Jan Petránek, Industrial Minerals and…. From the entry palingenesis
  • Ultimately, when the less volatile end member is essentially involatile, the vaporous of the volatile end member may become microscopically small.1970, Arnold Reisman, “Condensed-vapor Phase Binary Diagrams Continued—Incongruently Vaporizing Systems”, in Phase Equilibria: Basic…. From the entry endmember
  • The New York Times notes that, where his rallies were once "improvised and volatile," their finales now feel more planned, solemn, and infused with religion.2024 April 8, “The Rapid Secularization of America”, in Fareed Zakaria GPS, spoken by Fareed Zakaria. From the entry altar call
  • Buscemi relished the chance to portray the squirrelly, volatile crook Carl Showalter, a figure that came together only once the actor got dressed.2021 June 21, Charles Bramesco, “‘So, does it hold up?’: Fargo’s stars and co-creator on its 25th anniversary”, in The Guardian, →ISSN. From the entry squirrelly
  • But now these zombie organizations — and you likely work in one — operate in an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world.2017, Gordon Vala-Webb, Building Smarter Organizations. From the entry zombie organization
  • There may have been blowoff in early Titan's history, but on an icy body there are plenty of volatile resrvoirs available to restock an atmosphere.2010, Raymond T. Pierrehumbert, Principles of Planetary Climate, page 578. From the entry blowoff
  • “Cheap volatile assets with a huge upside are precisely the kinds of optionlike investments that clever zombie managers are energetically looking for,” he said.2009 March 13, Floyd Norris, “The Problem? Bankers Point to the Rules”, in New York Times. From the entry optionlike
  • Two major volatile components of this secretion are steroids; cybisterone (structure 7) constitutes about 20% of the volatiles, and a new steroid, mirasorvone, about 50%.1998 March 17, J Meinwald, “Mirasorvone: A masked 20-ketopregnane from the defensive secretion of a diving beetle (Thermonectus…. From the entry mirasorvone
  • Volatile matter in the vapor form and carbon monoxide just above the bed must be fully mixed with overfire air to complete the combustion process.1989 October, Central Boiler Plants (Technical Manual; TM 5-650), [Washington, D.C.?]: Headquarters, Department of the Army, →OCLC, page…. From the entry overfire
  • In one reaction (pyrolysis of acetylene dicarboxylyl fluoride), the volatile products condensed to a stable polymeric film; however, the film was not perfluorinated.1962 November, Donna J. Tate…. From the entry dicarboxylyl
  • "I just love the fact that she's so deliciously volatile and unhinged – I thought I've got to get on board with this, she's so vile."2024 May 28, Kerrie Hughes, “'Never slouch for anyone, ever' - Hannah Waddingham advises women to embrace their height”, in Woman & Home…. From the entry milktini
  • But is doubling your workload the answer to a rapidly volatile job climate, or is it a legally dubious practice that puts employers on the back foot?[2022 October 7, Isobel O'Sullivan, “Overemployment: Why Are People Choosing to Work Two Jobs?”, in Tech.co, archived from the original on…. From the entry oe
  • A fire on a flat surface cannot propagate because much of the heat generated is lost to the air and feedback is too weak to pyrolize volatile gases.2017, Robert W. Fitzgerald, Fire Performance Analysis for Buildings, page 104. From the entry pyrolize
  • Within a week after the volatile drug was placed in the dogholes and the entrances covered up, all but a couple of the animals had been killed.2014, Robert A. Mullins, 12 Monkeys & A Green Jacket, page 72. From the entry doghole
  • As the dwarf-planetary sublimation of Mars, Eris is “very strong, volatile, and vicious”; she hates to be left out of anything, especially good old fracases and brouhahas.2014, Richard Grossinger, The Night Sky: Soul and Cosmos; The Physics and Metaphysics of the Stars and Planets, updated and expanded…. From the entry dwarf-planetary

Meaning of volatile

  1. adjective Evaporating or vaporizing readily under normal conditions.
  2. adjective Of a substance, explosive.
  3. adjective Of a price, variable or erratic.

Full definition of volatile

Questions about volatile in a sentence

How do you use volatile in a sentence?
Volatile is used as an adjective and noun. For example: “These microbes are primarily responsible for breaking down cellulose and other carbohydrates into volatile fatty acids (VFAs).”
What is a short sentence with volatile?
“a volatile man”
What does volatile mean?
Volatile means evaporating or vaporizing readily under normal conditions.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: volatile (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “How to use volatile in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/volatile. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.