volatile — English Dictionary

Adjective

1. Evaporating or vaporizing readily under normal conditions.

2. Of a substance, explosive.

   Usage

   • Informal

3. Of a price, variable or erratic.

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   Its pricing is highly volatile — and therefore highly risky. For all its nosebleed ascents, bitcoin also has had some gut-punching plunges. Between November 2021 and November 2022, for example, the price of bitcoin dropped 75%, from $64,455 to $16,196, according to data on coinmarketcap.com.

4. Of a person, quick to become angry or violent.

   Synonyms

   furiousrabidraging

   Examples

   a volatile man

5. Fickle.

   Synonyms

   changeableerraticunpredictable

   Examples

   Now Mr. Bush plans to pour more arms into this unstable region and add fuel to the volatile powderkeg he has foolishly created.

6. Temporary or ephemeral.

   Synonyms

   fleetingpassingtransitory

7. Of a situation potentially violent.

8. Of a variable etc., having its associated memory immediately updated with any changes in value.

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   This method stores a value into a non-volatile field called result, then stores true in the volatile field finished. The main thread waits for the field finished to be set to true, then reads the field result.

9. Of memory, whose content is lost when the computer is powered down.

10. Passing through the air on wings, or by the buoyant force of the atmosphere; flying; having the power to fly.

    Usage

    • Obsolete

Noun

1. A chemical or compound that changes into a gas easily.

2. A variable that is volatile, i.e. has its associated memory immediately updated with any change in value.

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   Operations on C++ volatiles do put the compiler on notice that the object may be modified asynchronously, and hence are generally safer to use than ordinary variable accesses.

Adjective

1. evaporating readily at normal temperatures and pressures

   Antonyms

   nonvolatile

   Examples

   volatile oils

   volatile solvents

2. liable to lead to sudden change or violence

   Synonyms

   explosive

   Examples

   an explosive issue

   a volatile situation with troops and rioters eager for a confrontation

3. marked by erratic changeableness in affections or attachments

   Synonyms

   fickle

   Examples

   fickle friends

   a flirt's volatile affections

4. tending to vary often or widely

   Examples

   volatile stocks

   volatile emotions

Noun

1. a volatile substance; a substance that changes readily from solid or liquid to a vapor

   Broader terms

   substance

   Examples

   it was heated to evaporate the volatiles