unstable
/ʌnˈsteɪ.bəl/
unstable adjective: not stable.
Adjective
unstable (comparative more unstable, superlative most unstable)
- Not stable.
- unstable foundation
- The structure is too unstable to stand safely.
- Having a strong tendency to change.
- The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania.[…]It was used to make kerosene, the main fuel for artificial lighting after overfishing led...2013 August 3, “Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847
- Synonyms:
- labile
- Fluctuating; not constant.
- politically unstable
- The political situation remains unstable.
- Synonyms:
- instable
- Fickle.
- Synonyms:
- arbitrary, capricious
- Unpredictable.
- All of the characters in Rocko's Modern Life are anthropomorphic animals of varying species, the vast majority of whom are mentally unstable. Murray said that he matched personalities of his characters to the various animals in the series to form a social caricature.2024 May 29, Brie Hoffler, “Chaos Ride: Episode 2 APK”, in tialalnafi (Usenet)
- Readily decomposable.
- chemically unstable
- Radioactive, especially with a short half-life.
Verb
unstable (third-person singular simple present unstables, present participle unstabling, simple past and past participle unstabled)
- To release (an animal) from a stable.
- When the last tune of music floated from the fleet, he unstabled his quarter horse and headed for the coastal road leading west and north on his circuit.1992, Elizabeth Darracott Wheeler, Sir John Dodderidge, Celebrated Barrister of Britain, 1555-1628
unstable meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
unstable in Hindi
- not stable
- अस्थिर asthir
unstable in Tamil
- நிலையற்ற, நிலைப்பற்ற, நிலையில்லாத, உறுதியற்ற, உறுதியில்லாத, உறுதியின்றிய
unstable in Marathi
- अस्थिर
unstable in Urdu
- الل ٹپو, بودا, کمزور, متردد
More languagesFewer languages
- unstable in Bengali
- দুস্থ dustho, অস্থায়ী ôsthayi, অনিত্য onitto
- unstable in Telugu
- అస్థిరంగా, అస్థిరమైనది
- unstable in Malayalam
- അസ്ഥിരമായ, സ്ഥിരമല്ലാത്ത, സ്ഥിരതയില്ലാത്ത, ചഞ്ചല
- unstable in Kannada
- ಅಸ್ಥಿರ, ಚಂಚಲ, ಚಪಲ
- unstable in Punjabi
- ਤਰਲ taral
- unstable in Gujarati
- અસ્થિર
- unstable in Odia
- ଅସ୍ଥିର, ଅସ୍ଥିତିଶୀଳ
- unstable in Sanskrit
- अस्थिर asthira
- unstable in Nepali
- अस्थिर
- unstable in Indonesian
- labil
- unstable in Persian
- ناپایدار nâpâydâr
Examples of unstable in a sentence
- The server is unstable, we need to rollback the changes.
- Nitro compounds tend to be unstable and often explosive.
- Still, the Five of Cups tells us that yes, you may be a grade-A unstable, about-to-book-a-ticket-to-grippy-sock-vacation mess.
Synonyms of unstable
Antonyms
Forms of unstable
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more unstable |
| superlative | most unstable |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | unstables |
| present participle | unstabling |
| past participle | unstabled |
| past | unstabled |
Origin of unstable
From Middle English unstable; equivalent to un- (not) + stable.
From un- (reversive prefix) + stable.
Words formed from unstable
- hyperunstable
- photounstable
- thermounstable
- unstable equilibrium
- unstableness
- unstablyemotionally unstable personality disorder
Phrases with unstable
Words that rhyme with unstable
16 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about unstable
- What does unstable mean?
- Unstable means not stable.
- What is unstable in Hindi?
- Unstable in Hindi is अस्थिर (asthir). See Unstable meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is unstable?
- Unstable can be an adjective or a verb.
- How do you pronounce unstable?
- Unstable is pronounced /ʌnˈsteɪ.bəl/.
Words near unstable in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: unstable (page history and authors); unstable (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); unstable (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); unstable (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); অনিত্য (Bengali) (page history and authors); unstable (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); unstable (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); unstable (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਤਰਲ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); unstable (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); unstable (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); अस्थिर (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); unstable (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-unstable.wav.
Cite this entry: “unstable.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/unstable. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.