Destabilise

//diːˈsteɪbɪlaɪz// verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To make something unstable. UK, transitive

    "The route had been closed on December 30 2022, after heavy rain destabilised the foundations beneath more than 40 metres of the railway."

  2. 2
    make unstable wordnet
  3. 3
    To undermine a government, especially by means of subversion or terrorism. UK, transitive
  4. 4
    become unstable wordnet
  5. 5
    To become unstable. UK, intransitive

Synonyms

All synonyms
destabilizedestabilize

Example

More examples

"The route had been closed on December 30 2022, after heavy rain destabilised the foundations beneath more than 40 metres of the railway."

Etymology

From de- + stabilise.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.