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Meaning & use

mobility

noun·Academic

Last updated

UK/məʊˈbɪləti/
US/moʊˈbɪləti/

Meanings

  1. noununcountable

    The ability to move your body or travel around without difficulty.

    Grammar: Uncountable: her mobility improved; not 'a mobility'.

    Patterns

    • improve mobility
    • mobility problems

    After the surgery, her mobility improved a little more each week.

    Stretching every morning helps older people keep their mobility.

    Some buildings lack ramps, which limits mobility for wheelchair users.

  2. noununcountable

    The chance to move from one social or economic level to another, or from one job or place to another.

    Grammar: Often follows a modifier: social mobility, labor mobility.

    Patterns

    • social mobility
    • upward mobility

    Free university tuition could boost social mobility in the region.

    Rising rents have cut mobility between neighborhoods.

    Workers in the union enjoy greater mobility between jobs.

  3. noununcountablebusiness

    The ease with which people and goods can be moved from place to place using transport.

    Grammar: Used in planning and business: urban mobility.

    Patterns

    • urban mobility
    • mobility services

    The city invests in bike lanes to improve urban mobility.

    Electric scooters have changed personal mobility downtown.

    The company offers car sharing and other mobility services.

Common combinations

reduced mobility
Seats at the front are reserved for passengers with reduced mobility.
social mobility
Education is often seen as the key to social mobility.
upward mobility
Many immigrants moved to the city in search of upward mobility.
mobility aid
A cane is a simple mobility aid.
mobility scooter
She rode her mobility scooter to the shop.
labor mobility
Labor mobility rose when the border controls were lifted.

Synonyms and how they differ

movement
It is the general word for any motion, while 'mobility' is the ability to move freely.
agility
It means moving quickly and neatly, so it fits athletes, not people with limited movement.
flexibility
It describes how easily something bends or adapts, which is different from being able to travel or change position.
motion
It simply means the act of moving, without the idea of freedom or ability.

Opposites

immobilitystiffness

Word family

mobile adjective
able to move or be moved easily
immobile adjective
not moving or unable to move
mobilize verb
to organize people or resources for action
mobilization noun
the act of getting people or resources ready for action
immobility noun
the state of being unable to move

Commonly confused: mobility or mobilization?

mobility vs mobilization

Mobilization is the act of gathering people or resources for a purpose, such as the mobilization of troops. Mobility is a general ability to move.

Practice

The government says better schools will increase social ____.

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