understandable

English

Etymology

From Middle English understondable, equivalent to understand +‎ -able.

Pronunciation

  • Audio (US):(file)

Adjective

understandable (comparative more understandable, superlative most understandable)

  1. Capable of being understood; comprehensible.
    Synonyms: apprehensible, see also Thesaurus:comprehensible
    Antonyms: incomprehensible, unfathomable, see also Thesaurus:incomprehensible
  2. Capable of being accepted or excused under the circumstances; permissible.
    Synonyms: acceptable, excusable, see also Thesaurus:permissible
    Antonyms: inexcusable, out of bounds, unacceptable
    • 1951 December, T. B. Sands, “Some Railway Byways in the Vale of Glamorgan”, in Railway Magazine, page 838:
      The original branch was 5¾ miles long, from Llantrisant to Cowbridge only, but in 1889, the T.V.R. [Taff Vale Railway] obtained powers […] to continue the line for 6½ miles south to the coast at Aberthaw, ostensibly for the purpose of serving the important limestone works there, but one suspects other motives, including an understandable desire on the part of the T.V.R. to put a spoke in the wheel of the oncoming Barry Railway !

Derived terms

Translations

This page is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.