Unstable
adjectiveLikely to change, collapse, or fail; not firm, steady, or reliable.
How to spell unstable
8 letters · 3 syllables
How to pronounce unstable
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does unstable mean?
- adjectiveLikely to change, collapse, or fail; not firm, steady, or reliable.
Unstable in a sentence
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The old ladder felt unstable as soon as he put his weight on it.
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The company's finances were so unstable that suppliers demanded payment in advance.
Where does unstable come from?
Language of origin: Latin
The word is built from the negative prefix un-, an old native English element meaning 'not', attached to 'stable'. 'Stable' itself came into English in the 1200s through Old French estable, which descended from the Latin adjective stabilis, meaning 'firm' or 'able to stand'. That Latin word was formed on the verb stare, 'to stand', the same root that underlies a whole family of English words such as 'station', 'stature' and 'establish'. Once 'stable' was settled in English, writers simply prefixed it with un- to express the opposite, a flexible habit of English that lets us coin negatives freely. The spelling stays regular: the silent-feeling -le ending of 'stable' is preserved intact, so the only thing to remember is that there is no doubling and no extra letters when you join the two halves.
How the word is built
- un- (not)
- stable (steady, firmly fixed, from Latin stabilis 'able to stand')
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