- Today's Word
Labile
LAY-byle
Definition
(adjective) Likely to change rapidly, especially emotionally or chemically.
Example
The labile patient’s mood shifted from joy to tears within minutes.
Fun Fact
Labile comes from the Latin labilis, meaning “slippery”—fitting for a word used to describe volatility. In neuroscience, labile emotions refer to intense mood swings, such as in bipolar disorder. In chemistry, it applies to bonds or compounds that shift states easily. The word is also increasingly used in pop psychology to describe people whose reactions change without warning.
(noun) A profound transformation of mind and character; a fundamental change in one’s values, outlook, or way of life.
The diagnosis wasn’t a death sentence — for her it was a metanoia, a complete reorientation of everything she had previously decided mattered.
Metanoia derives from the Greek metanoia, meaning “change of mind,” built from meta- (“beyond” or “after”) and nous (“mind”). In classical Greek philosophy it described a shift in perspective so fundamental it altered the entire orientation of a person’s thinking. In early Christian theology it acquired the specific meaning of repentance — not merely feeling sorry but undergoing a complete transformation of character. Both meanings persist in modern usage, the secular and the spiritual versions of the word describing the same essential experience from different angles.