labile

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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 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 To be labile is to be unstable; in chemistry, a labile substance is easily broken down. Maureen Stanton, Longreads, 10 Aug. 2020 On unusually chilly days, these climatically labile folks are 0 for 3. Valerie Ross, Discover Magazine, 8 Apr. 2011 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 According to the consolidation/reconsolidation hypothesis, recently acquired or reactivated memories are transformed progressively from an initially labile state into a stable form, through a protein-dependent process. Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 22 Sep. 2015
Recent Examples of Synonyms for labile
Adjective
  • Some predict that if economic and political conditions remain unstable, gold could continue to rise.
    Quartz Intelligence Newsroom, Quartz, 1 Feb. 2025
  • One possibility is that unstable cholesterol levels could contribute to damage in blood vessels that supply the brain.
    Dan Perry, Newsweek, 31 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Vučević, 34, is the more affordable of the two veterans — currently midway through the second season of a three-year, $60 million deal — and his sudden resurgence as a versatile shooting big has been enough to pique interest around the league.
    Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 3 Feb. 2025
  • Some say trifles are versatile and easy to pull together.
    Patricia S York, Southern Living, 2 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • The key finding is that as the distance grows greater, the coupling stops growing, and the inconstant constant becomes constant once more.
    Stanley J. Brodsky, Scientific American, 16 Apr. 2024
  • Energy experts have been warning that electricity is likely to get more expensive and less reliable unless renewable power that waxes and wanes under inconstant sunlight and wind is backed up by generators that can run whenever needed.
    IEEE Spectrum, IEEE Spectrum, 9 May 2024

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Cite this Entry

“Labile.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/labile. Accessed 13 Feb. 2025.

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