passable

adjective

pass·​able ˈpa-sə-bəl How to pronounce passable (audio)
1
a
: capable of being passed, crossed, or traveled on
passable roads
b
: capable of being freely circulated
2
: good enough : adequate
passably adverb

Examples of passable in a Sentence

The main road is passable but most others are still covered with snow. The river is passable during the summer months. He did a passable job with the assignment. She plays passable golf but prefers tennis.
Recent Examples on the Web The last 12 miles are a narrow, winding gravel road passable to sedans. Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 4 Jan. 2024 Multiple spots along the route are not passable, said P. J. Costa, eastern U.P. trails specialist with the DNR Parks and Recreation Division, in a release Wednesday. Detroit Free Press, 23 Feb. 2024 There are other, less passable roads into Avdiivka, but Hrushevsky is critical. David Axe, Forbes, 11 Feb. 2024 Desert roads that tend to be greasy wet have to be passable. Pete Zimowsky, Idaho Statesman, 31 Jan. 2024 Streets still have some snow on them so motorists need to drive with care, but the streets are passable. Doug Thompson, arkansasonline.com, 18 Jan. 2024 The Shields run on the older Android TV interface, which is passable and has all the main streaming services. Geoffrey Morrison, wsj.com, 9 Nov. 2023 This is when everything is open and roads are passable. Katie Jackson, Travel + Leisure, 2 Nov. 2023 For a three-hour window Saturday, Israel offered passage for people in Gaza to move south on the Salah al-Din road, the main passable highway running nearly the length of the 25-mile Gaza Strip. Loveday Morris, Washington Post, 4 Nov. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'passable.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of passable was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near passable

Cite this Entry

“Passable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/passable. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

passable

adjective
pass·​able ˈpas-ə-bəl How to pronounce passable (audio)
1
: capable of being passed, crossed, or traveled on
passable roads
2
: barely good enough : tolerable
a passable imitation
passably adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on passable

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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