volatile
adjective
Simple meaning
Of a price, variable or erratic.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
vahluhtuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈvɑlətəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
physics
Evaporating readily at normal temperatures and pressures
physics
Evaporating or vaporizing readily under normal conditions.
economicsfinance
Of a price, variable or erratic.
Of a person, quick to become angry or violent.
Of a situation potentially violent.
informal
Of a substance, explosive.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Evaporating readily at normal temperatures and pressures
Used this way, volatile is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Science
- Academic writing
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Nearby words
- changeful , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use volatile
- “It was heated to evaporate the volatiles.”noun
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
The property of changing readily from a solid or liquid to a vapor.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
An oil having the odor or flavor of the plant from which it comes.
Computer storage that is erased when the power is turned off.
Computer storage that is not lost when the power is turned off.
A solution of ammonium carbonate in ammonia water and alcohol.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Antonyms
Sense: evaporating readily at normal temperatures and pressures
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “volatile” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.