| Main Entry: | unstable/unsteady |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | doubtful, weak |
Synonyms: |
ambiguous, borderline, capricious, changeable, dizzy, dubious, erratic, fickle, fitful, fluctuating, giddy, inconsistent, inconstant, insecure, irrational, lubricious, mercurial, mobile, movable, moving, mutable, not fixed, precarious, rickety, risky, rocky, sensitive, shaky, shifty, slippery, suspect, teetering, temperamental, ticklish, tricky, uncertain, unpredictable, unsettled, unsteady, untrustworthy, vacillating, variable, volatile, wavering, weaving, wiggly, wobbly |
Antonyms: |
stable, steady, strong |
| Main Entry: | unstable |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | doubtful |
Synonyms: |
ambiguous, borderline, capricious, changeable, dizzy, dubious, erratic, fickle, fitful, fluctuating, giddy, inconsistent, inconstant, insecure, irrational, lubricious, mercurial, mobile, movable, moving, mutable, not fixed, precarious, rickety, risky, rocky, sensitive, shaky, shifty, slippery, suspect, teetering, temperamental, ticklish, tricky, uncertain, unpredictable, unsettled, unsteady, untrustworthy, vacillating, variable, volatile, wavering, weak, weaving, wiggly, wobbly |
Antonyms: |
stable, steady, strong |
| Main Entry: | capricious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | given to sudden behavior change |
Synonyms: |
any way the wind blows, arbitrary, blowing hot and cold, careless, changeful, contrary, crotchety, effervescent, erratic, every which way, fanciful, fickle, fitful, flaky*, flighty, freakish, gaga, helter-skelter, humorsome, impulsive, inconstant, kinky*, lubricious, mercurial, moody, mutable, notional, odd, picky*, punchy, queer, quirky, temperamental, ticklish, unpredictable, unreasonable, unstable, up and down, vagarious, variable, volatile, wayward, whimsical, yo-yo |
Antonyms: |
constant, dependable, sensible, staid, steadfast, steady |
| Main Entry: | changeable |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | erratic |
Synonyms: |
agitated, capricious, changeful, commutative, convertible, fickle, fitful, flighty, fluctuating, fluid, impulsive, inconstant, indecisive, irregular, irresolute, irresponsible, kaleidoscopic, mercurial, mobile, movable, mutable, permutable, protean, restless, reversible, revocable, shifting, skittish, spasmodic, transformable, transitional, uncertain, unpredictable, unreliable, unsettled, unstable, unsteady, vacillating, vagrant, variable, variant, varying, versatile, volatile, wavering, whimsical |
Antonyms: |
certain, changeless, constant, fixed, lasting, reliable, stable, steady, sure, unchangeable, undeviating |
| Main Entry: | dangerous |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | hazardous, troubling |
Synonyms: |
alarming, bad, breakneck, chancy, critical, dangersome, deadly, delicate, dynamite, exposed, fatal, formidable, hairy*, heavy*, hot*, impending, impregnable, insecure, jeopardous, loaded, malignant, menacing, mortal, nasty, on collision course, parlous, perilous, portentous, precarious, pressing, queasy, risky, serious, serpentine, shaky, speculative, terrible, thorny, threatening, ticklish, touch-and-go, touchy, treacherous, ugly*, unhealthy, unsafe, unstable, urgent, viperous, vulnerable, wicked |
Antonyms: |
careful, guarded, safe, secure, unhazardous, untroubled |
| Main Entry: | desultory |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | random |
Synonyms: |
aimless, chance, chaotic, deviating, erratic, haphazard, orderless, rambling, unmethodical, unstable, unsystematic, without purpose |
| Main Entry: | dizzy |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | flighty, scatterbrained |
Synonyms: |
capricious, changeable, crazy, empty-headed, fatuous, feather-brained, fickle, foolish, frivolous, giddy, harebrained, heady, inane, light-headed, silly, skittish, unstable |
Antonyms: |
clear-thinking, sensible, smart |
| Main Entry: | doubtful |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | questionable, unclear |
Synonyms: |
ambiguous, borderline, chancy, clouded, contingent, debatable, dicey, disreputable, doubtable, dubious, dubitable, equivocal, far-fetched, fat chance, fishy, hazardous, hazy, iffy, impugnable, inconclusive, indecisive, indefinite, indeterminate, indistinct, insecure, long shot, obscure, on thin ice, open, pending, precarious, problematic, shady, sneaky*, speculative, suspect, suspicious, touch-and-go, touchy, uncertain, unconfirmed, undecided, uneasy, unsettled, unstable, unsure, up for grabs |
| Notes: | a person is capable of doubting, whereas a thing is dubitable; dubious, unlike doubtful, carries the connotation of suspicion |
Antonyms: |
certain, clear, confirmed, decided, definite, exact, resolved, settled, unquestionable |
| Main Entry: | erratic |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | unpredictable; wandering |
Synonyms: |
aberrant, abnormal, anomalous, arbitrary, bizarre, capricious, changeable, desultory, devious, dicey, directionless, dubious, eccentric, fitful, flaky*, fluctuant, idiosyncratic, iffy, incalculable, inconsistent, inconstant, irregular, meandering, mercurial, nomadic, oddball, peculiar, planetary, rambling, roving, shifting, spasmodic, strange, stray, uncertain, undirected, unnatural, unreliable, unstable, unusual, vagarious, variable, volatile, wayward, weird, whimsical |
Antonyms: |
certain, consistent, definite, dependable, predictable, regular, reliable, steady, sure, unchanging |
| Main Entry: | explosive |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | volatile, dangerous |
Synonyms: |
at the boiling point, bursting, charged, consequential, convulsive, detonating, detonative, ebullient, eruptive, fiery, forceful, frenzied, fulminant, fulminating, hazardous, impetuous, meteoric, overwrought, perilous, raging, rampant, stormy, tense, touchy, ugly, uncontrollable, unstable, vehement, violent, wild |
Antonyms: |
calm, peaceful, safe |