mutability

American  

[myoo-tuh-bil-i-tee] / ˌmyu təˈbɪl ɪ ti /

Rarely mutableness

noun

1. the quality of being liable to undergo change or alteration.

   With the realization of cancer's mutability, they now fear it might not be the same disease in everyone.

2. the quality of constantly changing; transient or transitory quality.

   National borders can have a permanence that contrasts with the almost infinite mutability of the cultures contained within them.

3. Computers. (in object-oriented programming) the characteristic of an object having properties whose values can change while the object itself maintains a unique identity.

   The mutability of the "sales report" object allows properties like sales period and salesperson to be updated without losing the reference to the report elsewhere in the application.

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Other Word Forms

• hypermutability noun
• hypermutableness noun
• nonmutability noun
• nonmutableness noun

Etymology

Origin of mutability

First recorded in 1400–50; from French mutabilité, from Latin mūtābilitāt-, stem of mūtābilitās “changeability,” equivalent to mūtābili(s) “changeable” ( mutable ( def. ) ) + -tās -ty ² ( def. )

Explanation

Mutability means the quality of being changeable. Caterpillars, on their way to becoming butterflies, display a great deal of mutability. An easy way to remember mutability is to think about a word it sounds like, mutant. A mutant is someone who has been changed, irrevocably, so mutability is the ability to change. It's the mutability of the Internet that makes it so wonderful and confusing at the same time. You might tell your friend who was sweet and kind yesterday, but is mean and awful today, that you wish she didn't have such a tendency to mutability.

Example Sentences

That kind of mutability within the character — it’s kinda like what I was saying about the artist.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2025

First-time feature director Rachael Abigail Holder’s cinematic postcard to loss and mutability is an attractive tableau of aged brownstones and new hot spots, canopied streets and hilly parks.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 5, 2025

You could take that on the obvious level with the whole Skrull-y thing, but I also think it’s about the mutability of where someone is in their life.

From New York Times • Jul. 17, 2023

The subjects’ mutability echoes the local artist’s slippery style, which incorporates collage and shifts easily from realism to expressionism.

From Washington Post • Mar. 24, 2023

The mutability of the past is the central tenet of Ingsoc.

From "1984" by George Orwell

Related Words

• anxiety
• fluctuation
• insecurity
• uncertainty
• volatility
• vulnerability
• weakness