Meanings
plural instabilities
- uncountableThe quality of being unstable.
The template is [Richard] Nixon’s “madman theory” of diplomatic engagement – shorthand for prompting your adversaries to doubt your sanity and mental instability to the point where they are intimidated into otherwise unlikely concessions.
2026 April 8, Robert Tait, “Trump may be using Nixon’s ‘madman theory’ – and similar infamy may await”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 08 Apr 2026Synonyms: unstability, unstableness, volatility
- countablenatural sciencesA state that is not in equilibrium, or in which a small change has a large irreversible effect.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe quality of being unstable.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe quality or attribute of being unstable and irresolute
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latininstabilitas
- Middle Frenchinstabilité
- Englishinstability
From Middle French instabilité, from Latin instabilitas. Morphologically in- + stability.
More words from Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀκαταστασία, ἀκαταστασία
- ἀκαταστασία (akatastasía)quality of being unstable
- ἀκαταστασία (akatastasía)physical state
Bulgarian нестабилност, нестабилност
- нестабилност (nestabilnost)quality of being unstable
- нестабилност (nestabilnost)physical state
Catalan inestabilitat
- inestabilitatquality of being unstable
Chinese Mandarin 不穩定 /不稳定, 不穩定性 /不稳定性
- 不穩定 /不稳定 (bù wěndìng)quality of being unstable
- 不穩定性 /不稳定性 (bù wěndìng xìng)quality of being unstable
- 不穩固 /不稳固 (bù wěngù)quality of being unstable
- 不穩固性 /不稳固性 (bù wěngù xìng)quality of being unstable
- 不穩定 /不稳定 (bù wěndìng)physical state
- 不穩定性 /不稳定性 (bù wěndìng xìng)physical state
- 不穩固 /不稳固 (bù wěngù)physical state
- 不穩固性 /不稳固性 (bù wěngù xìng)physical state
Dutch instabiliteit, instabiliteit
- instabiliteitquality of being unstable
- instabiliteitphysical state
Finnish epävakaus, epätasapaino
- epävakausquality of being unstable
- epätasapainophysical state
French instabilité
- instabilitéquality of being unstable
German Instabilität, Instabilität
- Instabilitätquality of being unstable
- Instabilitätphysical state
Hindi असंतुलन
- असंतुलन (asantulan)quality of being unstable
Hungarian instabilitás
- instabilitásquality of being unstable
Irish éagobhsaíocht
- éagobhsaíochtquality of being unstable
Italian instabilità, dissesto
- instabilitàquality of being unstable
- dissestoquality of being unstable
Latin instabilitas
- instabilitasquality of being unstable
Malay ketidakstabilan, ketidakstabilan
- ketidakstabilanquality of being unstable
- ketidakstabilanphysical state
Norwegian Bokmål ustabilitet
- ustabilitetquality of being unstable
Persian ناپایداری
- ناپایداری (nâpâydâri)quality of being unstable
Polish niestabilność, niestabilność
- niestabilnośćquality of being unstable
- niestabilnośćphysical state
Portuguese instabilidade
- instabilidadequality of being unstable
Russian нестаби́льность, неусто́йчивость
- нестаби́льность (nestabílʹnostʹ)quality of being unstable
- неусто́йчивость (neustójčivostʹ)quality of being unstable
- непро́чность (nepróčnostʹ)quality of being unstable
- непостоя́нство (nepostojánstvo)quality of being unstable
- зы́бкость (zýbkostʹ)quality of being unstable
- неуравнове́шенность (neuravnovéšennostʹ)quality of being unstable
- неусто́йчивость (neustójčivostʹ)physical state
- непро́чность (nepróčnostʹ)physical state
Spanish inestabilidad, inestabilidad
- inestabilidadquality of being unstable
- inestabilidadphysical state
Turkish dengesizlik, dengesizlik
- dengesizlikquality of being unstable
- dengesizlikphysical state
Ukrainian нестабі́льність, несті́йкість
- нестабі́льність (nestabílʹnistʹ)quality of being unstable
- несті́йкість (nestíjkistʹ)quality of being unstable
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with instability
Cite this entry
instability. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/instability
“instability.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/instability. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “instability,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/instability.
Source: instability on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.