Definition: subject to change; variable
Usage: a fluid situation fraught with uncertainty; everything was unstable following the coup
Similar words: changeable, changeful
Definition: such that alteration is possible; having a marked tendency to change
Usage: changeable behavior; changeable moods; changeable prices
Synonyms: unstable, precarious
Definition: affording no ease or reassurance
Usage: a precarious truce
Similar words: uneasy
Definition: lacking a sense of security or affording no ease or reassurance
Usage: farmers were uneasy until rain finally came; uneasy about his health; gave an uneasy laugh; uneasy lies the head that wears the crown; an uneasy coalition government; an uneasy calm; an uneasy silence fell on the group
Synonyms: unstable
Definition: highly or violently reactive
Usage: sensitive and highly unstable compounds
Similar words: reactive
Definition: participating readily in reactions
Usage: sodium is a reactive metal; free radicals are very reactive
Synonyms: unstable
Definition: disposed to psychological variability
Usage: his rather unstable religious convictions
Similar words: irresolute
Definition: uncertain how to act or proceed
Usage: the committee was timid and mediocre and irresolute
Synonyms: mentally ill, unsound, unstable
Definition: suffering from severe mental illness
Usage: of unsound mind
Similar words: insane
Definition: afflicted with or characteristic of mental derangement
Usage: was declared insane; insane laughter
Synonyms: unstable
Definition: lacking stability or fixity or firmness
Usage: unstable political conditions; the tower proved to be unstable in the high wind; an unstable world economy
Similar words: coseismal, coseismic
Definition: being where earthquake waves arrive simultaneously
Similar words: crank, cranky, tippy, tender
Definition: (used of boats) inclined to heel over easily under sail
Similar words: volatile, explosive
Definition: liable to lead to sudden change or violence
Usage: an explosive issue; a volatile situation with troops and rioters eager for a confrontation
Similar words: rickety, shaky, wobbly, wonky
Definition: inclined to shake as from weakness or defect
Usage: a rickety table; a wobbly chair with shaky legs; the ladder felt a little wobbly; the bridge still stands though one of the arches is wonky
Similar words: rocky
Definition: liable to rock
Usage: on high rocky heels
Similar words: seismal, seismic
Definition: subject to or caused by an earthquake or earth vibration
Similar words: tipsy
Definition: unstable and prone to tip as if intoxicated
Usage: a tipsy boat
Similar words: top-heavy
Definition: unstable by being overloaded at the top
Similar words: tottering
Definition: (of structures or institutions) having lost stability; failing or on the point of collapse
Usage: a tottering empire
Similar words: volcanic
Definition: explosively unstable
Usage: a volcanic temper