lexicow

stable

/ˈsteɪbl//ˈsteɪbl/·adjective
I watch a round-bottomed little figure get shoved hard, swinging over so far it surely must go down — but the weight buried in its base hauls it back, rocking smaller and smaller until it stands quiet again. Beside it a tall, thin tower takes the very same shove and just topples. Same push, two fates; I always find myself rooting for the one that knows how to come back up.
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Definition

Something stable holds its state: pushed or shaken, it settles back rather than tipping over or spiralling away. A stable government survives shocks; a stable ladder does not wobble; a stable mood is not thrown by small upsets. The key idea is a restoring tendency — not the absence of force, but the capacity to return to rest after one. The Latin root stabilis, 'able to stand', sits behind 'stand', 'stable', and 'establish' alike.

Examples

  • After years of volatile prices, the housing market finally looked stable.
  • A wide base makes the tower stable enough to survive a strong shove.
  • Engineers check that the structure stays stable even as the ground beneath it begins to shrink.

Collocations

a stable economy·financially stable·a stable relationship·remain stable·in a stable condition

Synonyms

steady·firm·secure·solid·settled

Antonyms

volatile·precarious·unstable·erratic

Word family

stability (noun)·stabilize (verb)·stabilization (noun)·unstable (adjective)

In TOEFL & IELTS

A workhorse adjective across TOEFL/IELTS topics — economies, ecosystems, patients ('in a stable condition'). It pairs naturally as the opposite of volatile and precarious in contrast structures. Promote the noun stability and the verb stabilize in academic writing ('measures to stabilize the currency'). Note that stable is also a noun (a building for horses) — context disambiguates.