as in unstable
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Recent Examples of labile
The astonishing Laanstra-Corn does not play Hedvig purely as an innocent; there’s something as dangerous and emotionally labile in her shocked face as there is in Gregers’s explosive outbursts.
—
Helen Shaw, New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2025
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
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
Helen Shaw, New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2025
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
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
-
On the big screen, Harford cared for Sandra Dee’s Rosalie Stocker in The Wild and the Innocent (1959) and portrayed the opportunistic older sister of Natalie Wood’s unstable title character in Inside Daisy Clover (1965), the melodrama directed by Robert Mulligan.—
Mike Barnes,
HollywoodReporter,
9 Nov. 2025
-
Despite the improvements, her health has still been unstable over the years, partially due to her diagnosis of pulmonary vein stenosis, a rare disease that narrows the veins connecting the heart and the lungs, her father told the outlet.—
Kimberlee Speakman,
PEOPLE,
7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Helicopters are proven, versatile, and can fly for hours on a single tank of fuel.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
4 Nov. 2025
-
This versatile vest can be layered over workout gear, worn as loungewear, or paired with jeans for a cozy touch.—
Shea Simmons,
PEOPLE,
4 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Even within a single day, temporary weight shifts are common and are often due to varying levels of fluid retention.—
Lauren O'Connor,
Health,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Books about global warming often seem wary of beauty, evoking it only as fleeting and inconstant.—
Katy Waldman,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025
-
The self is a shifting, inconstant phenomenon, brain and body ever transforming in time and space, with no clear delineation between what is self and what is other.—
Lauren Groff,
The Atlantic,
20 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Labile.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/labile. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
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