HOW TO PRONOUNCE
volatile
/ˈvɑlətəl/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:57
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End with a light “tul.”
Keep both later vowels unstressed, rather than making the final syllable sound like the separate word tile.
3 syllables · Stress on syllable 1
TRY SAYING
“The report describes a volatile market.”
APG practice sentence · CC BY-SA 4.0
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗What does volatile mean?
adjective
- Evaporating or vaporizing readily under normal conditions.
- (informal) Of a substance, explosive.
- Of a price, variable or erratic.
More meanings (9)
adjective
- Of a person, quick to become angry or violent.
- Fickle.
- Temporary or ephemeral.
- Of a situation potentially violent.
- Of a variable etc., having its associated memory immediately updated with any changes in value.
- Of memory, whose content is lost when the computer is powered down.
- (obsolete) Passing through the air on wings, or by the buoyant force of the atmosphere; flying; having the power to fly.
noun
- A chemical or compound that changes into a gas easily.
- A variable that is volatile, i.e. has its associated memory immediately updated with any change in value.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈvɑlətəl/
Pronunciation used in the listening tip.
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
Wanting in perseverance, such volatile natures are outstripped in the race of life by the diligent and even the dull.
It seems fair to assume that in the latter case some principle that is volatile at ordinary air temperatures is present.
More book examples (3)
The singular appearance of this cavalcade not only attracted the curiosity of Wamba, but excited even that of his less volatile companion.
The object of using the iodine is to form a compound with bromine that is not so volatile as the bromine itself.
This appears an astonishing instance of the permanence of some matter, which nevertheless in its nature must be most subtile and volatile.