VOLATILE

Pronunciation (US):

• VOLATILE (noun)
  The noun VOLATILE has 1 sense:

1. a volatile substance; a substance that changes readily from solid or liquid to a vapor

  Familiarity information: VOLATILE used as a noun is very rare.

• VOLATILE (adjective)
  The adjective VOLATILE has 4 senses:

1. evaporating readily at normal temperatures and pressures
2. liable to lead to sudden change or violence
3. marked by erratic changeableness in affections or attachments
4. tending to vary often or widely

  Familiarity information: VOLATILE used as an adjective is uncommon.

• VOLATILE (noun)

Meaning:

A volatile substance; a substance that changes readily from solid or liquid to a vapor

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Context example:

it was heated to evaporate the volatiles

Hypernyms ("volatile" is a kind of...):

matter; substance (that which has mass and occupies space)

• VOLATILE (adjective)

Meaning:

Evaporating readily at normal temperatures and pressures

Context examples:

volatile oils / volatile solvents

Similar:

evaporable; vaporific; vaporizable; vapourific; vapourisable; volatilisable; volatilizable ((used of substances) capable of being volatilized)

Also:

inconstant (likely to change frequently often without apparent or cogent reason; variable)

Domain category:

chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)

Antonym:

nonvolatile (not volatilizing readily)

Meaning:

Liable to lead to sudden change or violence

Synonyms:

explosive; volatile

Context examples:

an explosive issue / a volatile situation with troops and rioters eager for a confrontation

Similar:

unstable (lacking stability or fixity or firmness)

Meaning:

Marked by erratic changeableness in affections or attachments

Synonyms:

fickle; volatile

Context examples:

fickle friends / a flirt's volatile affections

Similar:

inconstant (likely to change frequently often without apparent or cogent reason; variable)

Meaning:

Tending to vary often or widely

Context examples:

volatile stocks / volatile emotions

Similar:

changeable; changeful (such that alteration is possible; having a marked tendency to change)