instability
/ˌɪnstəˈbɪləti/noun
instability is spelled I-N-S-T-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y: 11 letters and 5 syllables. It appears 5.1 times per million words in written English, the 11,015th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, instability means “The quality of being unstable” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of instability is instabilities.
How many letters and syllables are in instability?
| Letters | 11: I-N-S-T-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.1 times per million words; the 11,015th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is instability?
Instability appears 5.1 times per million words in written English, the 11,015th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce instability?
- UK /ɪnstəˈbɪlɪti/
- US /ˌɪnstəˈbɪləti/
- US [ˌɪnstəˈbɪləɾi]
Instability has 5 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-instability.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-instability.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-instability.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with instability?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as instability from its last stressed vowel (/ɪləti/):
- responsibility
- possibility
- capability
- probability
- accountability
- fertility
- sustainability
- eligibility
- vulnerability
- compatibility
- accessibility
- volatility
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of instability
- instabilities plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does instability mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The quality of being unstable.
- 2
A state that is not in equilibrium, or in which a small change has a large irreversible effect.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Instability in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense quality of being unstable:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | instabilité |
| German | Instabilität |
| Portuguese | instabilidade |
| Spanish | inestabilidad |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does instability come from?
From Middle French instabilité, from Latin instabilitas. Morphologically in- + stability.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).