labile

adjective la·bile \ ˈlā-ˌbī(-ə)l , -bəl \

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of labile

1 : readily or continually undergoing chemical, physical, or biological change or breakdown : unstable

a labile mineral

2 : readily open to change

has so labile a face that some of her scenes … rock with emotion
—Manny Farber

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lability

play \lā-ˈbi-lə-tē\ noun

labile was our Word of the Day on 07/26/2013. Hear the podcast!

Recent Examples of labile from the Web

But cancers are both heterogeneous and labile; elsewhere in a tumour, and later in a tumour’s progression, things may look different.

— The Economist, "A cell among trillionsUnderstanding cancer’s unruly origins helps early diagnosis," 16 Sep. 2017
But cancers are both heterogeneous and labile

— The Economist, "A cell among trillionsUnderstanding cancer’s unruly origins helps early diagnosis," 16 Sep. 2017
Yes, both Mr. Spector and Ms. Hall are dynamic, intelligent and emotionally labile.

— alexis soloski, New York Times, "Rebecca Hall and Morgan Spector: Together, Onstage and Off," 25 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'labile.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

We are confident that you won't slip up or err in learning labile, despite its etymology. The word was borrowed into English from French and can be traced back (by way of Middle French labile, meaning "prone to err") to the Latin verb labi, meaning "to slip or fall." Indeed, the first sense of labile in English was "prone to slip, err, or lapse," but that usage is now obsolete. Other labi descendants in English include collapse, elapse, prolapse, and simply lapse.