different between vacillating vs unstable

English

Verb

vacillating

1. present participle of vacillate

Adjective

vacillating (comparative more vacillating, superlative most vacillating)

1. Liable to vacillate; wavering, irresolute.

Translations

Noun

vacillating (plural vacillatings)

1. vacillation
   • 1949, The Modern Quarterly (volume 5, page 52)

     It was vacillatings, misgivings, and deliberate calculations of this kind that paved the way […]

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