MEPX
Chapter 8 of 11All chapters
  1. 1How to learn a word
  2. 2Roots and affixes
  3. 3Time and presence
  4. 4Attitude and stance
  5. 5Care and precision
  6. 6Honesty and openness
  7. 7Surplus and shortage
  8. 8Change and stability
  9. 9Importance and scale
  10. 10Pairs people mix up
  11. 11Register and tone

Chapter 8 of 11

Change and stability

Volatile, static, incremental.

The words

Volatile means liable to change quickly and unpredictably. Static means unchanging. Incremental means proceeding in small steps rather than leaps.

  • Volatile carries risk; dynamic carries energy. They are not interchangeable.
  • Incremental is neutral, though it is often used as faint criticism.

Nearby

Erratic means irregular and unreliable, and fluid means changing but adapting well. The difference between them is whether the change is a fault or a feature.