Definition of LABILE

labile

Adjective Satellite

  • (chemistry, physics, biology) readily undergoing change or breakdown
  • liable to change
    • "an emotionally labile person"

Adj

  • Liable to slip, err, fall, or apostatize.
  • Apt or likely to change.
  • Kinetically unstable; rapidly cleaved (and possibly reformed).
  • Able to change valency without changing its form; especially, able to be used both transitively and intransitively without changing its form.

Adjective

  • Easily altered, unstable, or prone to change.

Examples

  • Certain drugs can be conjugated to polymer molecules with a linkage that is labile at low pH to effect controlled release in a cellular endosome.
  • His strategy was LABILE, constantly adapting to his opponent’s powerful Scrabble plays.
  • Water ligands typically bind metals in a labile fashion and are rapidly interchanged in aqueous solution.

Origin / Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lābilis (“apt to slip, transient”), from lābor, lābī (“slip; glide, flow”).

Synonyms

unstable

Scrabble Score: 8

labile: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
labile: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
labile: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 11

labile: valid Words With Friends Word