different between risky vs unstable

English

Etymology

risk +? -y

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???ski/
• Rhymes: -?ski

Adjective

risky (comparative riskier, superlative riskiest)

1. Dangerous, involving risks.

   Investing in this start-up company could be risky.

2. Misspelling of risqué.
   • 2012, Marlize Schmidt, That Awkward Moment..., Lulu Press, Inc (?ISBN)

     That awkward moment when someone doesn't reply to your risky text message.

   • 1889, Charles Leonard Moore, Banquet of Palacios: A Comedy, page 157:

     Have you no risky songs , no indecent ballads?

   • 2020, B. Barrett-Lennard, Mind Control Through the Mass Media: Transmission of the Politics of Inequality, B. Barrett-Lennard (?ISBN)

     Ronald Frankau (pronounced Franco) wrote a few risky songs, such as FANNY'S BEEN EVACUATED NOW with the line “and for half a pound of butter, well a lady's got to eat” ~ he got banned for it.

Synonyms

• hazardous, dangerous, perilous

Antonyms

• riskless, safe, secure

Related terms

• risk
• riskily
• riskiness
• risqué

Translations

Anagrams

• yirks

English

Etymology

un- +? stable

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?ste?b??/
• Rhymes: -e?b?l

Adjective

unstable (comparative more unstable, superlative most unstable)

1. Having a strong tendency to change.
2. Fluctuating; not constant.
3. Fickle.
4. Unpredictable.
5. (chemistry) Readily decomposable.
6. (physics) Radioactive, especially with a short half-life.

Synonyms

• (having strong tendency to change): labile
• (fluctuating, not constant): instable (rare); see also Thesaurus:unsteady
• (fickle): arbitrary, capricious
• (not held or fixed securely and likely to fall over): tottering, unsteady, wobbly; see also Thesaurus:rickety

Antonyms

• stable

Related terms

• instability
• unstability (rare)

Translations

Verb

unstable (third-person singular simple present unstables, present participle unstabling, simple past and past participle unstabled)

1. (transitive) To release (an animal) from a stable.

Anagrams

• abluents, ant-blues, bleaunts, blue ants, tunables, unablest