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volatile

/ˈvɑ.lə.təl/noun, adjective3 syllables

Volatile means: evaporating readily at normal temperatures and pressures.

Synonyms for volatile28

adjective, as in evaporating readily at normal temperatures and pressures

evaporable, vaporific, vapourific, vaporizable, vapourisable, volatilizable, volatilisable, inconstant

adjective, as in liable to lead to sudden change or violence

explosive, unstable

adjective, as in marked by erratic changeableness in affections or attachments

fickle, inconstant

adjective, as in tending to vary often or widely

changeable, changeful

also used for volatile

furious, rabid, raging, ferocious, fierce, grim, incessive, infuriate, erratic, unpredictable, fleeting, passing, transitory, earthly, ephemeral

Includes material from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Opposites of volatile

nonvolatile

What does volatile mean?5

adjective

1

evaporating readily at normal temperatures and pressures“volatile oils”

2

liable to lead to sudden change or violence“an explosive issue”

3

marked by erratic changeableness in affections or attachments“fickle friends”

4

tending to vary often or widely“volatile stocks”

noun

1

a volatile substance; a substance that changes readily from solid or liquid to a vapor“it was heated to evaporate the volatiles”

Definitions from the Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Volatile in a sentence

  • Volatile aid and investment inflows have limited growth, and poverty remains high.The_World_Factbook
  • She had a very volatile relationship with her sister.Amastan
  • Volatile international relations are keeping oil prices high.Amastan
  • The economy seems very volatile at the moment.CM
  • Fanaticism is the highly volatile mix of narrow-mindedness and overactive imagination.zogwarg
  • Sami and Layla spent a volatile day of arguing.OsoHombre
  • Sami described Layla as a someone who was highly volatile.OsoHombre
  • The situation in Morocco is actually very volatile.Amastan

Sentences from Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR, credited to their authors.

Forms of volatile

as a noun

plural
volatiles