volubleadj.
/ˈvɒljᵿbl/, U.S. /ˈvɑljəb(ə)l/ I. Quick or ready of movement; mutable.figurative.1861 W. M. Thackeray Adventures of Philip xvii, in Cornhill Mag. Aug. 133 Would you like to hear yesterday's sermon over and over again—eternally voluble?
1. Liable to change; inconstant, variable, mutable. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > changeableness > [adjective]
slidinga900
wankleeOE
windyc1000
unsteadfastc1200
fleeting?c1225
loose?c1225
brotelc1315
unstablec1340
varyingc1340
variantc1374
motleyc1380
ungroundedc1380
muablea1393
passiblea1393
remuablea1393
changeablea1398
movablea1398
variablec1397
slidderya1400
ticklec1400
variantc1412
flitting1413
mutable?a1425
movingc1425
flaskisable1430
flickering1430
transmutablec1430
vertible1447
brittlea1450
ficklea1450
permutablec1450
unfirmc1450
uncertain1477
turnable1483
unsteadfast1483
vagrantc1522
inconstant1526
alterable?1531
stirringc1540
slippery1548
various1552
slid?1553
mutala1561
rolling1561
weathery1563
unconstant1568
interchangeable1574
fluctuant1575
stayless1575
transitive1575
voluble1575
changeling1577
queasy1579
desultory1581
huff-puff1582
unstaid1586
vagrant1586
changeful1590
floating1594
Protean1594
unstayed1594
swimming1596
anchorless1597
mobilec1600
ticklish1601
catching1603
labile1603
unrooted1604
quicksilvered1605
versatile1605
insubstantial1607
uncertain1609
brandling1611
rootless1611
squeasy1611
wind-changinga1616
insolid1618
ambulatory1625
versatilous1629
plastic1633
desultorious1637
unbottomed1641
fluid1642
fluent1648
yea-and-nay1648
versipellous1650
flexile1651
uncentred1652
variating1653
chequered1656
slideable1662
transchangeative1662
weathercock-like1663
flicketing1674
fluxa1677
lapsable1678
wanton1681
veering1684
upon the weathercock1702
contingent1703
unsettled?1726
fermentable1731
afloat1757
brickle1768
wavy1795
vagarious1798
unsettled1803
fitful1810
metamorphosical1811
undulating1815
tittupya1817
titubant1817
mutative1818
papier mâché1818
teetotum1819
vacillating1822
capricious1823
sensitive1828
quicksilvery1829
unengrafted1829
fluxionala1834
proteiform1833
liquid1835
tottlish1835
kaleidoscopic1846
versative1846
kaleidoscopical1858
tottery1861
choppy1865
variative1874
variational1879
wimbly-wambly1881
fluctuable1882
shifty1882
giveable1884
shifty1884
tippy1886
mutatory1890
upsettable1890
rocky1897
undulatory1897
streaky1898
tottly1905
tipply1906
up and down1907
inertialess1927
sometimey1946
rise-and-fall1950
switchable1961
1575 G. Fenton Golden Epist. f. 12v As of al voluble things there is nothing more light than Renowne.
1578 H. Wotton tr. J. Yver Courtlie Controuersie 29 Poets, and Painters..testifye the loue of men to be voluble and vnconstant lyke a birde.
1604 T. Wright Passions of Minde (new ed.) vi. 339 Perceive how vain fancies, and voluble crosses vanish away as little cloudes before the northerne winds.
1647 J. Carter Nail & Wheel 71 Nothing abides at a stay; all things are unstable, and voluble.
a1651 N. Culverwell Elegant Disc. Light of Nature (1652) i. xii. 128 The noblest perfections..are but voluble and uncertaine.
1678 V. Alsop Melius Inquirendum ii. v. 243 The Lot, wherein the..Alruling God Controuls the Contingency of the voluble Creature.
1898 G. Meredith Odes French Hist. 28 He waves, and the voluble scene is a quagmire shifting block.
2. figurative.1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Ccc3v Nothing is more politique then to make the wheels of our mind concentrique and voluble with the wheels of fortune. View more context for this quotation?1605 R. Dallington Method for Trauell sig. Bv His imagination shall be carried in the voluble Sphere of diuers mens discourses.1632 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Eromena 106 Fortune (Sister) is unstable, and her wheele voluble.† b. Of the eye: moving readily. Obsolete. rare.
a. Capable of ready rotation on a centre or axis; apt to revolve or roll in this manner. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > revolution or rotation > [adjective] > able to revolve or rotate
volible1382
voluble1589
revolvable?1812
rotatable1851
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie ii. xi. 81 He is euen & smooth, without any angle, or interruption, most voluble and apt to turne, and to continue motion.
1610 Bible (Douay) II. Ezek. x. 13 And these wheeles he called voluble, my self hearing it.
1637 G. Gillespie Dispute against Eng.-Popish Ceremonies Epist. sig. A2v Like Diogenes turning about the mouth of his voluble hoggeshead.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 594 Or this less volubil Earth By shorter flight to th' East had left him there. View more context for this quotation
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture III. 2/1 A Sphere is..a round body voluble on every side.
1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 490 Thrice must the voluble and restless earth Spin round upon her axle.
1812 H. F. Cary tr. Dante Purgatorio xxii. 41 I had met The fierce encounter of the voluble rock.
1822 W. Hazlitt Table-talk II. xvii. 397 Go thy ways old world, swing round in blue ether, voluble to every age; you and I shall no more jostle!
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > eye > [adjective] > movements of eye
walling1513
rolling1532
roving1567
wandering1578
inconstant1598
loose1603
unrolling1647
voluble1661
1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia 91 He hath..high eye~browes, eyes not very voluble or prominent.
c. Capable of being rolled up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > reduction in size or extent > [adjective] > folded up or rolled up > able to be
voluble1662
roll-up1748
turn-up1767
shut-up1799
collapsible1843
telescoping1873
collapsing1884
packaway1892
foldaway1960
1662 J. Evelyn Sculptura ii. 19 Which from the German Bucher..were called Books, to whatever voluble or folding matter applyed.
3. Moving rapidly and easily, esp. with a gliding or undulating movement.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > [adjective] > easily or freely
voluble1589
free-running1773
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. iv. 119 A broad and voluble tong, thinne and mouable lippes, teeth euen and not shagged.
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 11 The Tongue of a Serpent..is also thinne, long, and black of colour, voluble; neither is there any beast that moueth the tongue so speedily.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 436 Neerer he drew, and many a walk travers'd Of stateliest Covert, Cedar, Pine, or Palme, Then voluble and bold, now hid, now seen. View more context for this quotation
1695 J. Woodward Ess. Nat. Hist. Earth 130 The parts of it [sc. water] being very voluble and lubricous, as well as fine and small, it easily..distends the Tubes and Vessels of Vegetables.
1853 W. C. Bryant Poems (new ed.) 93 Why so slow, Gentle and voluble spirit of the air?
4. Botany. Twining, twisting. Cf. volubile adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > stem or stalk > [adjective] > twining, twisting, or trailing
voluble1753
volubilate1819
volubile1819
viticulose1866
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Stalk Voluble stalk, that which twists round other things.
1789 E. Darwin Bot. Garden: Pt. II ii. 108 (note) Some of the plants with voluble stems ascend other plants spirally east-south-west.
1835 W. Kirby On Power of God in Creation of Animals II. 247 Some with a climbing or voluble stem, constantly turn one way, and some as constantly turn another.
1857 A. Gray First Lessons Bot. (1866) 37 Twining, or voluble, when stems rise by coiling themselves spirally around other stems or supports. [Also in later botanical works.]
II. Fluency or ease of utterance; characterized by this.
5. Characterized by fluency or glibness of utterance; rapid and ready of speech; fluent:absolute.1762 S. Foote Orators i. 59 You will have at one view, the choleric, the placid, the voluble,..and the clamorous.in combination.1604 T. Dekker & T. Middleton Honest Whore i. v. 21 A notable-voluble tongde villaine.in extended use.1820 J. Keats Eve of St. Agnes in Lamia & Other Poems 94 But to her heart, her heart was voluble, Paining with eloquence her balmy side.
a. Of persons.
ΚΠ
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iii. i. 64 A most acute Iuuenall, volable [1623 voluble] and free of grace. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) ii. i. 238 A knaue very voluble... A subtle slippery knaue, a finder out of occasions.
1621 T. W. tr. S. Goulart Wise Vieillard 14 There be found men aboue a hundred yeares old, that are very voluble and fluent in talke and discourse.
1704 R. Steele Lying Lover v. 53 Oh this unhappy Tongue of mine! Thou lawless voluble destroying Foe.]
1726 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey V. xxii. 319 There end thy pompous vaunts, and high disdain; Oh sharp in scandal, voluble and vain!
1807 G. Crabbe Parish Reg. ii, in Poems 76 Fierce in his Air, and voluble of Tongue.
1840 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece VII. lvi. 138 A school of oratory, which produced a long series of voluble sophists.
1890 M. Williams Leaves of Life II. xvii. 150 Of all the voluble men I have encountered in the course of my career, he is the most voluble.
b. Of the tongue.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > loquacity or talkativeness > [adjective] > voluble (of the tongue)
tickle1377
readya1400
aspen1532
rolling1549
rounda1568
voluble1604
well hanged1632
well-hung1648
slippery1699
1608 T. Middleton Trick to catch Old-one i. sig. Bv 'Tis a fine little voluble toung mine Hoste, that wins a widdow.
1650 R. Stapleton tr. F. Strada De Bello Belgico iii. 63 A man naturally eloquent, of a voluble fluent tongue.
1699 Bp. G. Burnet Expos. Thirty-nine Articles xxiii. 257 Hot-headed Men of warm Fancies, and voluble Tongues..would be apt to thrust themselves on to the Teaching and Governing others.
1720 Prior Truth & Falsehood 45 Her tongue, so voluble and kind, It always runs before her mind.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. xx. 309 The tongue of man is voluble, hath words For every theme.
1817 G. Chalmers Life T. Churchyard in T. Churchyard Chips conc. Scotl. 8 Churchyard was, plainly, a plausible man, who had many tales to tell, with a voluble tongue.
6. in extended use.a1721 M. Prior Ess. & Dialogues of Dead: Lock & Montaigne in Dialogues of Dead & Other Wks. (1907) 223 I find the same strain run with a most voluble impetuosity almost thro every Chapter of your Book.1801 M. Edgeworth Forester in Moral Tales I. 218 The joy of the poor dancing-master..was rapturous and voluble.1849 D. M. Mulock Ogilvies xvi The good woman went on in her voluble grief.1871 J. R. Macduff Memories of Patmos xxii. 308 Oh, the jarring discord of voluble sympathy!† b. (See quot. 1745.) Obsolete. rare.
a. Of discourse, words, etc.: Characterized by great fluency or readiness of utterance.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > loquacity or talkativeness > [adjective] > copious or lengthy (of speech)
facundious1430
clattered1582
voluble1598
garrulous1839
peripatetic1864
wangling1869
yacketing1958
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > elegance > [adjective] > fluent or unforced
gentc1390
renablec1410
flowing1553
round1565
unracked1572
current1577
ready1583
voluble1598
facile1607
unforceda1616
fluent1625
sliding1627
unstudied1657
flippanta1677
easy1711
fast-flowing1770
fluida1794
superfluent1917
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost ii. i. 76 Aged eares play treuant at his tales..So sweete and voluble is his discourse. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) ii. i. 91 If voluble and sharpe discourse be mar'd, Vnkindnesse blunts it more then marble. View more context for this quotation
1649 J. Milton Εικονοκλαστης iv. 32 The discours,..voluble anough, and full of sentence.
1690 London Gaz. No. 2612/4 One John Waterhouse of full middle Stature,..and of a large Voice, and voluble Speech.
1782 J. Warton Ess. on Pope (new ed.) II. xiv. 473 The style of which is certainly not so melodious and voluble as that of Dryden's enchanting prose.
1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1750 I. 123 His periods, though not diligently rounded, are voluble and easy.
1812 M. R. Mitford Let. 5 Jan. in A. G. L'Estrange Life M. R. Mitford (1870) I. vi. 170 At length ‘madame’ began a very voluble oration, intended to express the extent of our delinquency.
1849 F. W. Robertson Serm. (1855) 1st Ser. ii. 25 In such persons words are ever at command—voluble and impassioned words.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > [adjective] > cursive
running1575
tachygraphic1728
voluble1745
tachygraphical1764
cursive1784
Spencerian1883
current1891
joined-up1983
1745 P. Thomas True Jrnl. Voy. South-Seas 243 They [the Chinese] have contrived a fourth Kind of Writing, the Strokes whereof..are made with more Ease and Expedition; on which Account they are called Voluble Letters.
Derivatives
ˈvolubleness n. the quality or character of being voluble.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > [noun] > undulatory motion > quality of
volubleness1610
the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > [noun] > rolling along > quality
volubleness1610
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > elegance > [noun] > fluency
profluence1568
flowing1584
slidingnessa1586
currentness1586
smoothness1589
facility1598
fluidity1603
fluency1636
profluencya1683
volubleness1727
torrentfulness1873
sonority1876
unrestraint1885
1610 J. Guillim Display of Heraldrie iii. xxii. 168 Such Reptiles as hauing no feet doe with a kind of volublenesse make their way in the waters with many intricate doublings.
1727 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. II Volubleness, an Aptness to roll; also a round Delivery or Utterance, an easy Pronunciation.
1895 Advance (Chicago) 10 Oct. 517/3 In general there is..a certain volubleness among the ministers, and forgetfulness..to give the laymen a chance [to speak].
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1920; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.1575