MEANING
1. Remaining in the same position or state rather than moving or changing.
2. Having statistical properties, such as mean and variance, that remain stable over time.
Use it for
describing an object that remains in one place; distinguishing a fixed condition from a changing one; clarifying a literal rather than a statistical useSeparates absence of movement or change from stable statistical properties in a fluctuating series. Academic functions: Change / Pattern / Trend.
Words that belong together
- remain stationary
- a stationary object
- a stationary position
On the page
The camera remained stationary while the subjects moved through the frame.
The diagram compares a stationary reference point with a moving object.
A stationary series can fluctuate from one observation to the next.
Similar averages in two short periods do not by themselves establish that the process is stationary.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- stationary
Usage notes
Usually non-gradable. Stationary is not stationery, which refers to writing materials. Register: neutral. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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