Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Evaporating readily at normal temperatures and pressures.
- adjective Capable of being readily vaporized.
- adjective Tending to vary often or widely, as in price.
- adjective Inconstant; fickle.
- adjective Lighthearted; flighty.
- adjective Ephemeral; fleeting.
- adjective Tending to violence; explosive.
- adjective Flying or capable of flying; volant.
- adjective Computers Of or relating to memory whose data is erased when the memory's power is interrupted.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Having the power of being readily converted into gas or vapor. Sometimes applied, in chemistry, to those constituents, or that portion, of a substance which is driven off by heating at a specified temperature.
- Flying, or able to fly; having the power of flight; volant; volitant.
- Having the quality of taking flight or passing off by spontaneous evaporation; evaporating rapidly; becoming diffused more or less freely in the atmosphere.
- Lively; brisk; gay; full of spirit; airy; hence, fickle; apt to change: as, a volatile disposition.
- Transient; not permanent; not lasting.
- noun A winged creature, as a bird or butterfly.
- noun Wild fowl collectively.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun obsolete A winged animal; wild fowl; game.
- adjective obsolete Passing through the air on wings, or by the buoyant force of the atmosphere; flying; having the power to fly.
- adjective Capable of wasting away, or of easily passing into the aëriform state; subject to evaporation.
- adjective Fig.: Light-hearted; easily affected by circumstances; airy; lively; hence, changeable; fickle.
- adjective (Old Chem.) See under
Alkali . - adjective a liniment composed of sweet oil and ammonia, so called from the readiness with which the latter evaporates.
- adjective (Chem.) See Essential oils, under
Essential .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective physics
evaporating orvaporizing readily under normal conditions. - adjective of a substance, informal
explosive . - adjective of a price, etc.
variable orerratic . - adjective of a person
quick to becomeangry orviolent . - adjective
fickle . - adjective
temporary orephemeral . - adjective of a situation potentially
violent . - adjective computing, of a variable having its associated
memory immediately updated with any changes in value. - adjective computing whose content is lost when the
computer is powered down
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective tending to vary often or widely
- adjective liable to lead to sudden change or violence
- adjective marked by erratic changeableness in affections or attachments
- noun a volatile substance; a substance that changes readily from solid or liquid to a vapor
- adjective evaporating readily at normal temperatures and pressures
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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She also called on the U.S. and NATO to ensure they take all necessary precautions in what she described as a volatile and complex situation.
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Botswana on Thursday expressed concern at what it described as a volatile political situation in Zimbabwe.
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Jeffrey R. Immelt, G.E.'s chief executive, said that the company was pleased with the results, the sixth consecutive quarter of double digit growth in operating earnings, in what he called a "volatile macro environment."
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Whirlpool said it expects the U.S. market to remain "volatile" in the months ahead as consumers respond to price promotions.
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Most paints and deck stains contain volatile-organic compounds, or VOCs, which include a variety of chemicals that may have adverse short - and long-term health effects.
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That earnings become volatile is not much of an argument.
Mortgage Depreciation, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
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Many experts expect food prices to remain volatile in the coming years.
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It boils water and vents the first vapor, which can contain volatile organic compounds.
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Many experts expect food prices to remain volatile in the coming years.
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But as broader stocks remain volatile, and with yields from Treasury bills also near record lows, "investors feel that they're leaving less on the table."
pqnga commented on the word volatile
Bay hơi, dễ biến đổi, không kiên định
Memories are volatile
March 23, 2011