Definition
Volatile began as chemistry — from the Latin volare, 'to fly': a volatile liquid is one whose molecules escape into the air at the slightest warmth. Every figurative sense keeps that readiness to fly out of stillness: volatile markets, volatile tempers, volatile borders. What makes something volatile is not constant motion but untrustworthy calm — the surface can lie flat for months and detonate in an afternoon, and the quiet beforehand was indistinguishable from real peace.
Examples
Collocations
a volatile market·highly volatile·a volatile situation·volatile compounds·a volatile temper
Synonyms
unstable·explosive·erratic·unpredictable·mercurial
Antonyms
stable·steady·inert
Word family
volatility (noun)
In TOEFL & IELTS
Two exam lives: TOEFL chemistry passages use the literal sense — volatile compounds evaporate — while economics and politics passages use the figurative one, with 'volatility' as the noun of record. In IELTS Task 1, a wildly zigzagging line is 'highly volatile', the summary word for what 'fluctuated sharply' describes. Pronunciation split worth hearing once: US /ˈvɑːlətl/ ends like 'total'; UK /ˈvɒlətaɪl/ rhymes with 'mile'.