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 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for labile
Adjective
  • Turnover among school leaders remains unstable, however.
    Kayla Huynh, jsonline.com, 6 Oct. 2025
  • The jump in homeless youth represents a rising number of Cincinnati families who face unstable housing situations, said Rico Blackman, director of organizing at the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition.
    Elizabeth B. Kim, Cincinnati Enquirer, 6 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Iuga Wide-Leg Sweatpant Jeans These wide-leg sweatpant jeans are a versatile and stylish wardrobe staple.
    Laura Lu, Parents, 8 Oct. 2025
  • With premium build quality and versatile functionality, it’s designed for professionals, creatives, and gamers who require more from their machines.
    PC Magazine, PC Magazine, 8 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

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Cite this Entry

“Labile.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/labile. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.

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