unstable
/ʌnˈsteɪ.bəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.87 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Not stable.
adj
Fluctuating; not constant.
adj
adj
adj
adj
Radioactive, especially with a short half-life.
Example Sentences
- "unstable foundation"
- "The structure is too unstable to stand safely."
- "The hillside at this point is composed of shaly rock overlaid with a peaty loam which carries a growth of heather, and its unstable condition has resulted in two landslides in the course of the railway's history."
- "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 to a shortage of whale blubber. Other liquids produced in the refining process, too unstable or smoky for lamplight, were burned or dumped."
- "politically unstable"
- "The political situation remains unstable."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: unstable
Usage
Inflected Forms
more unstable (comparative)
most unstable (superlative)
unstables (present, singular)
unstabling (participle, present)
unstabled (participle, past)
unstabled (past)
Derived Forms
Phrases
unstable equilibrium
unstablyemotionally unstable personality disorder