Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Capable of or tending to change: Describes something that can be altered, transformed, or is likely to change in form, quality, nature, or opinion.
   • Not constant or stable: Refers to something that is not fixed, permanent, or steadfast; subject to variation.

Usage and Examples

• Describing physical or abstract qualities:
  • Science often studies mutable substances under different conditions.
  • Her mutable opinions made it difficult to predict her stance on the issue.
• Describing patterns or policies:
  • The region is known for its mutable weather, which can shift from sunny to stormy in minutes.
  • A mutable foreign policy must adapt to shifting global alliances.

Advanced Usage

• In computing/programming: While not the core definition, in technical contexts, "mutable" can describe an object or data structure whose state can be modified after it is created. This is often discussed in contrast to "immutable."
  • In this programming language, lists are mutable, but strings are immutable.

Variants and Related Words

• Mutability (n): The quality or state of being mutable.
  • The mutability of fashion is what drives the industry.
• Immutable (adj): Unchanging over time or unable to be changed; the direct opposite of mutable.
  • The laws of physics are often considered immutable.

Synonyms

• Changeable
• Variable
• Unstable
• Fluid
• Protean (especially for something that readily assumes different forms)

Antonyms

• Immutable
• Constant
• Fixed
• Stable
• Unchanging

Idioms and Phrases

• The mutable ways of fortune: A literary phrase highlighting how luck or fate is unpredictable and subject to change.
  • The novel's hero experienced both great wealth and poverty, a testament to the mutable ways of fortune.

Adjective

1. capable of or tending to change in form or quality or nature
   • a mutable substance
   • the mutable ways of fortune
   • mutable weather patterns
   • a mutable foreign policy