acceptable

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English acceptable, from Anglo-Norman and Middle French acceptable, from Late Latin acceptābilis (“worthy of acceptance”).

Morphologically accept +‎ -able.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /əkˈsɛp.tə.bəl/, /ækˈsɛp.tə.bəl/, /ɪkˈsɛp.tə.bəl/
  • (obsolete) IPA(key): /ˈæksɛp.tə.bəl/[1]
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Hyphenation: ac‧cep‧ti‧ble

Adjective

acceptable (comparative more acceptable, superlative most acceptable)

  1. Capable, worthy, or sure of being accepted or received with pleasure; welcome; gratifying; pleasing to a receiver.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:good, Thesaurus:permissible, Thesaurus:standard, Thesaurus:valid
    Antonyms: inacceptable, rejectable, unacceptable
    We need to find an acceptable present for Jeff.
    • 1811, [Jane Austen], chapter XI, in Sense and Sensibility […], volume II, London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:
      ' […] The other day, as soon as we came to town, aware that money could not be very plenty with us just now, she put bank-notes into Fanny's hands to the amount of two hundred pounds. And extremely acceptable it is, for we must live at a great expense while we are here.'
    • 1883, United States. War Department, Annual Reports of the War Department, volume 1, page 128:
      I think if post commanders of the unchaplained posts could employ acceptable clergymen […] then the needs might be met.
    • 1999 February 1, Pamela Mendels, “Judge Delays Online Pornography Law”, in The New York Times‎[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 6 October 2022:
      A site that carried [sexually explicit] material, but that gated it off from children through credit cards or other mechanisms to verify the age of the user, would have an acceptable defense under the act.
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:acceptable.
  2. Barely worthy, less than excellent; passable.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:satisfactory
    Antonyms: inacceptable, unacceptable
    The designs were acceptable, but they were nothing special either.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

acceptable (plural acceptables)

  1. Someone or something that is acceptable.
    Antonym: rejectable
    • 1922, Madhusūdan Kaul, “Introduction”, in Sri Mālinīvijayottara Tantram (Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies; XXXVII), Bombay: […] “Tatva-vivechaka” Press, page xvii:
      The whole range of the knowable is divided into two classes, the acceptable and the avoidable. The acceptables are: Śiva, Śakti, Vidyesa, Mantra, Mantreśvara and the Jivas.
    • c. 1929–1930, Harry Alan Potamkin, “A Diet of Stars”, in Lewis Jacobs, editor, The Compound Cinema: The Film Writings of Harry Alan Potamkin (Studies in Culture & Communication), New York, N.Y.; London: Teachers College Press, published 1977, →ISBN, part 3 (Miscellany), section 9 (Other Writings), page 565:
      The good old acceptables are called “character” actors. An actor of the versatile order is called, casually, even contemptuously, a “character” actor.
    • 1941 July 4, Henry Klein, “The Dental Status and Dental Needs of Young Adult Males, Rejectable or Acceptable for Military Service, According to Selective Service Dental Requirements”, in Public Health Reports, volume 56, number 27, Washington, D.C.: United States Public Health Service, pages 1373–1374:
      Close to 3 percent of the acceptables are free of DMF teeth while none of the rejectables have fewer than 7 DMF teeth.
    • 1974 June 19, Ray Wells, “The Church and the Aging”, in The Free Will Baptist, Ayden, N.C., page 5, column 3:
      The church will not be content to see that older persons are housed and entertained, or even that acceptables are worked out to provide them with therapy and income from jobs.

References

  1. ^ Jespersen, Otto (1909), A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9)‎[1], volume I: Sounds and Spellings, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1961, § 5.66, page 170.

Further reading

Catalan

Etymology

    Learned borrowing from Latin acceptābilis.

    Pronunciation

    Adjective

    acceptable m or f (masculine and feminine plural acceptables)

    1. acceptable
      Antonym: inacceptable

    Derived terms

    Further reading

    Danish

    Adjective

    acceptable

    1. definite singular of acceptabel
    2. plural of acceptabel

    French

    Etymology

      Learned borrowing from Latin acceptābilis.

      Pronunciation

      Adjective

      acceptable (plural acceptables)

      1. acceptable
        Antonym: inacceptable

      Descendants

      • Mauritian Creole: akseptab
      • → German: akzeptabel

      Further reading

      Middle English

      Alternative forms

      Etymology

      Borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Middle French acceptable, from Late Latin acceptābilis; by surface analysis, accepten +‎ -able. First attested in c. 1382.

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /ˌaksɛpˈtaːblə/, /ˌaksɛpˈtaːbəl/
      • IPA(key): /ˈaksɛptabəl/ (with stress shift)

      Adjective

      acceptable

      1. Pleasant, agreeable; causing a positive reception.
      2. Fitting, appropriate (for a situation)

      Usage notes

      • Middle English acceptable is more positive than its modern descendant.

      Descendants

      References

      Spanish

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /akθepˈtable/ [ak.θepˈt̪a.βle]
      • Rhymes: -able
      • Syllabification: ac‧cep‧ta‧ble

      Adjective

      acceptable m or f (masculine and feminine plural acceptables)

      1. archaic form of aceptable

      Further reading

      Swedish

      Adjective

      acceptable

      1. definite natural masculine singular of acceptabel

      Anagrams

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