Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Instability |
InstabilityNoun1. An unstable order. 2. Unreliability attributable to being unstable. 3. A state of disequilibrium (as may occur in cases of inner ear disease). 4. The quality or attribute of being unstable. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "instability" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1374. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Aerospace | 1. The condition of a body if, when displaced from a state of equilibrium, it continues, or tends to continue, to depart from the original condition. Compare stability.2. Combustion instability. (references) |
Geography | Property of the state of rest or continuous mouvement of a system such that any disturbance introduced into this state grows. In meteorology, the term is often used as a synonym of static instability . Source: European Union. (references) |
Physics | A fractional change in permeability caused by a specified disturbance(mathematical formula, see IEV), where(mathematical formula, see IEV)is the relative permeability immediately before the applied disturbance, at a specified time afterwards. Source: European Union. (references) |
| A state of a plasma (or any other physical system) in which a small perturbation amplifies itself to a considerable alteration of the state of the system. In plasmas instabilities sometimes leads to disruptions (see entry). Most known instabilities are associated with waves and other natural (linear) modes of plasma oscillation, though some arise only from nonlinear effects. Known classifications of plasma instabilities include: absolute instability, backscatter instability, ballooning instability, bar-forming instability, beam instability, Brillouin instability, cross-field instability, current-driven instability, drift instability, external/free boundary instability, external-kink instability, fishbone instability, flute instability, hydrodynamic instability, ideal MHD instability, interchange instability, internal/fixed boundary instability, internal kink instability, ion ring instability, Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, kink instability, Kruskal-Schwarzchild instability, Langmuir beam instability, Loss cone instability, MHD instability, macroinstability, microinstability, modified two-stream instability, modulational instability, oscillating two-stream instability, parametric instability, pressure driven instability, Raman instability, Rayleigh-Taylor instability, resistive instability, sausage instability, streaming instability, thermal instability, trapped particle instability, two-plasmon instability, two-stream instability, universal instability, and velocity-space instability. (references) | |
Weather | The tendency for air parcels to accelerate when they are displaced from their original position; especially, the tendency to acceler;;ate upward after being lifted. Instability is a prerequisite for severe weather :: the greater the instability, the greater the potential for severe thunderstorms. See lifted index, and Fig. 6, sounding. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The word stability has a number of technical meanings, all related to the common meaning of the word.
- In mechanics, stability characterizes the result of small perturbations to a system in mechanical equilibrium.
- In system analysis and signal processing, stability means either:
- BIBO (Bounded Input, Bounded Output) stability
- Lyapunov stability
- In control theory, stability characterizes the reaction of a dynamic system to external influences.
- In numerical analysis, stability refers to how well an algorithm performs with regard to error in the numerical results: see numerical stability.
- In everyday conversation about computers, stability refers to the tendency or otherwise of a system or program to crash.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Stability."
Synonyms: InstabilitySynonyms: imbalance (n), unbalance (n), unstableness (n). (additional references) |
| Antonyms: balance (n), stability (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Changeableness | Noun: changeableness; Adjective: mutability, inconstancy; versatility, mobility; instability, unstable equilibrium; vacillation; (irresolution); fluctuation, vicissitude; alternation; (oscillation). |
Danger | Noun: danger, peril, insecurity, jeopardy, risk, hazard, venture, precariousness, slipperiness; instability; defenselessness; Adjective: exposure; (liability); vulnerability; vulnerable point, heel of Achilles; forlorn hope; (hopelessness). |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Clever | Outer agitation reveals inner instability. (references; author: unknown) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | This image shows severe demyelinization of the posterior columns of the spinal cord due to long-standing syphilis disease. This can result in a staggering, wide-based gait, postural instability, pain and paresthesias; Myelin stain; magnification 450X. Credit: CDC. |  | Moss Wobblemeter Test For Determining Fatigue As Expressed By Neuromuscular Instability : School Of Aviation Medicine. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Seneca | Whatever has overstepped its due bounds is always in a state of instability. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Postural instability can cause patients to have a stooped posture in which the head is bowed and the shoulders are drooped. (references) | |
This mouse equivalent of HD could allow scientists to explore the basis of CAG instability and its role in the disease process. (references) | ||
Clear indications of a large and clinically significant volume of blood loss are hemodynamic instability, hematemesis of grossly red material, or red stool. (references) | ||
Business | These conditions and the political instability which delayed the initiation of major projects, caused an estimated 50 percent drop in total imports. (references) | |
Driven by currency instability as well as a slowing growth in the general economy, many sectors that purchase from the security systems industry experienced a slowdown. (references) | ||
Foreign investment in local manufacturing is faced with a number of difficulties, including general political instability, lack of incentives and proper protection of foreign investors as well as intellectual property rights protection. (references) | ||
Children | Uganda | Strained finances, instability in some areas, infrastructure problems, and inadequate teacher training have prevented full implementation. (references) |
Congo | Current literacy rates were unknown but were believed to have fallen due to the widespread destruction of schools and displacement of persons by the political instability and physical insecurity during much of the 1990's. Teenage girls sometimes exchanged sex voluntarily or under pressure for better grades. (references) | |
Civil Liberties | India | Many foreigners, including diplomats, are refused permits to the country's northeastern states on the grounds of political instability in the region. (references) |
Discrimination | Uganda | The continued instability in the north led to violations of the rights of some Acholi, an ethnic group that comprises a significant part of the population. (references) |
Economic History | Bulgaria | The potential for further instability in the region also poses challenges. (references) |
Georgia | Georgia encountered considerable instability in the immediate post-Soviet period. (references) | |
Minorities | Mali | Longstanding tensions between the marginalized Moor and Tuareg pastoralist groups and the more populous nonpastoralist groups have been a leading source of political instability and violence, including the Tuareg rebellions of the early 1990's. On February 24, a group led by former army officer Ibrahim Bahanga, who was among the Tuareg rebels incorporated into the army after the rebellion in the 1990's, attacked the Gendarmerie and kidnaped 10 soldiers. (references) |
Political Economy | Afghanistan | Afghanistan has experienced civil war and political instability for 22 years. (references) |
Senegal | Businesses do not perceive any immediate instability in the political situation. (references) | |
Trade | Guinea | Guinea's banking sector experienced heightened instability in 1997, resulting in the closure of one bank and a pledge to restructure three other banks, with help from the IMF and the World Bank. (references) |
Indonesia | These economic factors coupled with lingering political instability have led to steep declines in both imports and direct foreign investment, and private capital inflows have remained strongly negative since 1998. (references) | |
Travel | Chad | Crime appears to increase during times of political and economic instability. (references) |
Worker Rights | Solomon Islands | Their efforts have been restricted severely by the conflict and ensuing political instability. (references) |
Chad | The instability resulting from civil wars contributed to the Government's limited ability to improve living conditions of children. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Harry S. Truman | 1945-1953 | The lack of that assurance would, I believe, aggravate the economic instability. |
Jimmy Carter | 1977-1981 | Japan, Australia, and New Zealand have given us strong support in developing a strategy for responding to instability in the Persian Gulf. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Instability" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Instability" is used about 578 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 578 | 10,939 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "instability": absolute instability ♦ bulge instability ♦ Cray instability ♦ fluttering instability ♦ Helmholtz instability ♦ hydrolytic instability ♦ instability line ♦ Joint Instability ♦ kink instability ♦ m = 0 instability ♦ MOS instability ♦ oscillatory instability ♦ oscillatory mode instability ♦ political instability ♦ sausage instability ♦ shearing instability ♦ surface instability ♦ wriggling instability. Additional references. | |
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "instability": h-instability. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "instability"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | paqëndrueshmëri (inconsistency, lability, volatility), ndryshueshmëri (changeability, fickleness, lability, mobility, variability), lëkundshmëri. (various references) | |
Arabic | عدم إستقرار (insecurity, rockiness, sensitivity, shakiness), عدم رضوخ. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | нестабилност (fluctuation), неустойчивост (weakness), неуравновесеност (flightiness, insobriety), несигурност (dubiety, incalculability, insecurity, suspense, uncertainty, versatility), непостоянство (changeability, fickleness, inconstancy, irresolution, mercuriality, mobility, uncertainty, vacillation, variability, volatility, wabble, wobble). (various references) | |
Chinese | 不稳定 (Instabilities, Queasily, Queasy, unstable). (various references) | |
Czech | vratkost (grogginess, insecurity, wobbliness), nestabilnost, nestálost (inconstancy, vicissitude). (various references) | |
Danish | instabilitet, instabilitas, ustabilitet. (various references) | |
Dutch | instabiliteit (jitter, pulse jitter). (various references) | |
Farsi | نااستواری (Inconsistency), بی ثباتی (Inconsistency, Jitter, Variation). (various references) | |
Finnish | epävakaisuus (changeableness, fickleness, unsteadiness). (various references) | |
French | instabilité (inconstancy, insecurity). (various references) | |
German | unbeständigkeit (changeability, discreteness, discursiveness, erraticness, fickleness, impermanence, inconsistency, inconstancy, moodiness, transitoriness, unsettledness, unsteadiness, variability), instabilität, Labilität (fragility, lability), Haltlosigkeit (psychical unsteadiness). (various references) | |
Greek | αστάθεια (disequilibrium, fickleness, frailness, frailty, inconstancy, mutability, shakiness, unsteadiness). (various references) | |
Hebrew | אי יציבות (rockiness, shakiness), רפיפות (lability, laxity). (various references) | |
Hungarian | változékonyság (inequality, uncertainty, variability, versatility), ingatagság (fickleness, grogginess, precariousness, shakiness, shilly-shally). (various references) | |
Italian | instabilit (insecurity). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 不安定 (crankiness, insecurity). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ふあ"てい (crankiness, insecurity). (various references) | |
Korean | 불안 성 (Instabilities). (various references) | |
Manx | teaymid (capriciousness, fitfulness, moodiness), neuhassooaght (inconsistency), corrid (eccentricity, irresolution). (various references) | |
Norwegian | ustabilitet. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | instabilityay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | instabilidade (changeability, fluctuation, fluidity, inconstancy). (various references) | |
Romanian | instabilitate (incertitude, looseness), nestatornicie (fickleness, flightiness, giddiness, levity, ticklishness), lipsã de soliditate, lipsã de echilibru, şubrezenie (craziness, feebleness, flimsiness, frailty, infirmity, weakness). (various references) | |
Russian | нестабильность, неустойчивость (caprice, disequilibrium, imbalance, lability, unstableness, wobbliness), непостоянство (changeability, fickleness, inconstancy, vacillation, variability, volatility). (various references) | |
Scottish | sochar (compliant disposition, instability of purpose, silliness). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | nestabilnost (unsteadiness), nepostojanost (transience, transiency, versatility). (various references) | |
Spanish | inestabilidad (fluidity, shakiness, unsteadiness). (various references) | |
Swedish | instabilitet (volatility). (various references) | |
Turkish | kararsızlık (changeability, dither, doubt, doubtfulness, dubiousness, fickleness, flightiness, fluctuation, haziness, hesitance, hesitancy, incertitude, inconsistency, indecision, indeterminate, infirmity, infirmity of purpose, irresolution, looseness, oscillation, quandary, shilly shally, suspense, uncertainty, unsteadiness, vacillation, variability), dengesizlik (alienation, derangement, disequilibrium, imbalance, mental alienation, unbalance, uneven temper), değişkenlik (capriciousness, changeability, fluidity, incalculability, inconstancy, inequality, mobility, uncertainty, unsteadiness, variability, variable, versatility), dayanıksızlık (flimsiness, weakness). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | нестабільність, непостійність (caprice, changeability, fickleness, volatility, whim). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | tính không vững, tính không kiên định (fickleness, mercuriality, mutability, unsteadfastness), tính không ổn định. (various references) | |
Welsh | ansadrwydd (fickleness). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Misspellings | |
"Instability" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: instablity, instibility, rinsability. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "instability" (pronounced i'nstubi"lutē) |
| 9 | -s t u b i" l u t ē | stability. |
| 8 | -t u b i" l u t ē | acceptability, adaptability, compatibility, convertibility, deductibility, irritability, electability, incompatibility, indestructibility, inevitability, marketability, palatability, portability, predictability, profitability, respectability, suitability, susceptibility, unpredictability. |
| 7 | -u b i" l u t ē | accessibility, ability, admissibility, advisability, affordability, amiability, applicability, availability, believability, capability, comparability, comprehensibility, credibility, culpability, debility, deniability, dependability, desirability, disability, irresponsibility, durability, eligibility, enforceability, fallibility, feasibility, flammability, flexibility, gullibility, impossibility, inability, inaccessibility, infallibility, inflexibility, invincibility, invisibility, invulnerability, legibility, liability, malleability, maneuverability, miscibility, permeability, plausibility, possibility, probability, readability, reliability, responsibility, sensibility, survivability, sustainability, transferability, unavailability, unreliability, variability, viability, visibility, vulnerability. |
| 6 | -b i" l u t ē | immobility, mobility, nobility. |
| 5 | -i" l u t ē | agility, civility, docility, ductility, facility, fertility, fragility, futility, gentility, hostility, humility, incivility, infertility, motility, nonutility, senility, sterility, tranquility, utility, versatility, virility, volatility. |
| 4 | -l u t ē | abnormality, accountability, actuality, banality, bestiality, bisexuality, brutality, causality, centrality, collegiality, commonality, conditionality, confidentiality, congeniality, constitutionality, credulity, criminality, criticality, cyclicality, dimensionality, legality, duality, equality, eventuality, extraterritoriality, fatality, fidelity, finality, formality, frivolity, frugality, functionality, generality, geniality, heterosexuality, homosexuality, hospitality, illegality, immorality, immortality, impartiality, impersonality, incredulity, individuality, inequality, infidelity, informality, instrumentality, irrationality, lethality, liberality, locality, materiality, mentality, modality, morality, mortality, municipality, musicality, mutuality, nationality, neutrality, normality, originality, partiality, personality, plurality, polity, practicality, principality, proportionality, punctuality, quality, rationality, reality, seasonality, sensuality, sentimentality, sexuality, speciality, spirituality, technicality, theatricality, tonality, totality, triviality, universality, unreality, venality, vitality. |
| 3 | -u t ē | absurdity, acidity, activity, acuity, adversity, affinity, aggressivity, alacrity, alkalinity, ambiguity, amenity, amity, analyticity, animosity, annuity, anonymity, antiquity, anxiety, atrocity, audacity, austerity, authenticity, authority, barbarity, biodiversity, brevity, calamity, capacity, captivity, cavity, celebrity, charity, chastity, clarity, commodity, community, complexity, complicity, conductivity, conformity, congruity, connectivity, continuity, creativity, crotchety, curiosity, deformity, deity, density, depravity, deputy, dexterity, dignity, discontinuity, laity, laxity, disparity, dissimilarity, disunity, diversity, divinity, domesticity, duplicity, eccentricity, elasticity, electricity, enmity, enormity, entity, equanimity, equity, eternity, ethnicity, exclusivity, expressivity, extremity, falsity, familiarity, Felicity, femininity, ferocity, festivity, fluidity, fraternity, generosity, gratuity, gravity, heredity, heterogeneity, hilarity, homogeneity, humanity, humidity, hyperactivity, hypersensitivity, identity, illiquidity, immaturity, immunity, impropriety, impunity, impurity, inactivity, incapacity, incongruity, indemnity, indignity, inequity, inferiority, infinity, infirmity, ingenuity, inhumanity, insanity, insecurity, insensitivity, insularity, integrity, intensity, irregularity, levity, liquidity, lividity, longevity, majority, masculinity, maternity, maturity, mediocrity, mendacity, minority, modernity, monstrosity, morbidity, multiplicity, nativity, necessity, negativity, Nonconformity, nonentity, notoriety, nudity, obesity, objectivity, obscenity, obscurity, oddity, opacity, opportunity, overcapacity, oversensitivity, parity, particularity, passivity, paternity, paucity, peculiarity, perpetuity, perplexity, perversity, piety, polarity, pomposity, popularity, posterity, priority, probity, proclivity, productivity, profanity, progressivity, promiscuity, propensity, propriety, prosperity, proximity, publicity, purity, quantity, radioactivity, rapidity, rarity, reactivity, receptivity, reciprocity, reflexivity, regularity, relativity, religiosity, retroactivity, rickety, rigidity, salinity, sanctity, sanity, scarcity, security, selectivity, seniority, sensitivity, serendipity, serenity, severity, similarity, simplicity, sincerity, sobriety, society, solemnity, solidarity, solidity, sorority, specificity, spontaneity, stupidity, subjectivity, superconductivity, superfluidity, superiority, supermajority, surety, temerity, tenacity, timidity, toxicity, Trinity, turbidity, ubiquity, unanimity, unfamiliarity, uniformity, unity, university, unpopularity, uppity, validity, vanity, variety, varsity, velocity, velvety, veracity, Verity, vicinity, virginity, virtuosity, viscosity, voracity, vulgarity. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-b-i-i-i-l-n-s-t-t-y" | |
-2 letters: inability, stability. | |
-3 letters: initials, latinity, salinity, sibilant. | |
-4 letters: ability, aiblins, anility, initial, lattins, nastily, nattily, saintly, stibial, tastily, titians. | |
-5 letters: ablins, alibis, bialis, bialys, binits, blains, blasty, blinis, inlays, instal, instil, isatin, lattin, litany, lyttas, sanity, satiny, slanty, stably, taints, tanist, tibial, tibias, tinily, titans, titian. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-b-i-i-i-l-n-s-t-t-y" | |
+1 letter: stainability. | |
+2 letters: insatiability, sinterability, unsuitability. | |
+3 letters: inscrutability, sustainability. | |
+5 letters: incontestability, inexhaustibility, insubstantiality, transmissibility. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Quotations: Familiar 8. Quotations: Non-fiction | 9. Quotations: Speeches 10. Usage Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Derivations 15. Rhymes 16. Anagrams | 17. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
