as in unstable
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Recent Examples of labile
The mob is aroused and labile; the lumpy cops have no control, over the situation or over themselves.
—
James Parker, The Atlantic, 12 Oct. 2024
The mob is aroused and labile; the lumpy cops have no control, over the situation or over themselves.
—James Parker, The Atlantic, 12 Oct. 2024
Then the therapist could spend several minutes establishing a safe rapport with the patient while waiting for the memory to enter a labile state during the reconsolidation-updating window.
—Bj Casey, Scientific American, 14 May 2024
There was something kinetic, something labile in his air.
—Kevin Barry, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
Amid this high level of acting skill, Lindsey stood out with her wonderfully convincing gestures and facial expressions, filling out the character of the more labile younger sister with captivating verisimilitude.
—Jeremy Yudkin, BostonGlobe.com, 17 July 2023
The painting, which ostensibly depicts Mary Magdalene in the reveries of devotion, is less spiritual than erotic: her interlaced fingers may be motionless, but her slight smile seems labile, indicating that Artemisia understood a woman’s sensuality from the inside out.
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2020
In its particulars, that work prefigured much that was to come: public, politically labile, made with sparse means and leaving no object behind.
—New York Times, 4 Dec. 2021
Jesse’s behavior is labile, an adjective that sounds precise but turns out to be little more than a clinical term for emotions that are all over the place.
—Joe Morgenstern, WSJ, 18 Nov. 2021
James Parker, The Atlantic, 12 Oct. 2024
The mob is aroused and labile; the lumpy cops have no control, over the situation or over themselves.
—James Parker, The Atlantic, 12 Oct. 2024
Then the therapist could spend several minutes establishing a safe rapport with the patient while waiting for the memory to enter a labile state during the reconsolidation-updating window.
—Bj Casey, Scientific American, 14 May 2024
There was something kinetic, something labile in his air.
—Kevin Barry, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
Amid this high level of acting skill, Lindsey stood out with her wonderfully convincing gestures and facial expressions, filling out the character of the more labile younger sister with captivating verisimilitude.
—Jeremy Yudkin, BostonGlobe.com, 17 July 2023
The painting, which ostensibly depicts Mary Magdalene in the reveries of devotion, is less spiritual than erotic: her interlaced fingers may be motionless, but her slight smile seems labile, indicating that Artemisia understood a woman’s sensuality from the inside out.
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2020
In its particulars, that work prefigured much that was to come: public, politically labile, made with sparse means and leaving no object behind.
—New York Times, 4 Dec. 2021
Jesse’s behavior is labile, an adjective that sounds precise but turns out to be little more than a clinical term for emotions that are all over the place.
—Joe Morgenstern, WSJ, 18 Nov. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for labile
Adjective
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Sitting places the glutes in a lengthened, inactive state that pushes the pelvis forward and puts the lower back at a painfully compressed, mechanical disadvantage, which in turn creates a posture that feels tight, stiff and unstable.—
Dana Santas,
CNN Money,
30 May 2025
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The mountain side of the glacier had been unstable since last week, when millions of pounds of rock debris fell onto the glacier surface, Davies said.—
Julia Jacobo,
ABC News,
29 May 2025
Adjective
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Kiner-Falefa would be the most versatile option at the deadline for the Yankees.—
Hunter Mulholland,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 June 2025
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The classic all-black number with a splash of red via the signal flag is versatile enough to install on virtually any front yard.—
Blake Bakkila,
Architectural Digest,
3 June 2025
Adjective
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If the United States is an unreliable partner and a source of chaos these countries will turn elsewhere, building new security and trade alliances that don’t depend on the inconstant, waning superpower.—
Lydia Polgreen,
Mercury News,
27 May 2025
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Much like a patient who fails to finish a course of antibiotics, inconstant policies may incur all the costs and none of the benefits.—
David Carlin,
Forbes,
24 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Labile.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/labile. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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