tenable
Americanadjective
-
capable of being held, maintained, or defended, as against attack or dispute.
a tenable theory.
- Synonyms:
- warrantable, maintainable, viable, workable
-
capable of being occupied, possessed, held, or enjoyed, as under certain conditions.
a research grant tenable for two years.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of tenable
1570–80; < French: that can be held, equivalent to ten ( ir ) to hold (≪ Latin tenēre ) + -able -able
Explanation
If your teacher says your position on the benefits of abolishing homework is not tenable, she means it is not based in fact. To be tenable is to be evidence-based and well-founded. Tenable comes from the Latin root tenir which means "to hold," as in "hold together." If your plan is tenable, it will probably hold together when you execute it, or hold up to scrutiny. It's good to note that the opposite of tenable is untenable and not intenable, though throughout history both have been used.
Vocabulary lists containing tenable
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "T"
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This Week In Culture: October 5–11, 2019
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Without Sammy, there would have been no Tenable quiz show, no Willow series. No Idiot Abroad Series 3."
From BBC • Apr. 17, 2024
And across Latin America, online frauds and cyberattacks are at an "all-time high," says cybersecurity company Tenable, posing an urgent problem for a well-connected region.
From Reuters • Aug. 15, 2023
“There’s a real day of reckoning coming in the startup world,” predicted Amit Yoran, CEO of the cybersecurity firm Tenable.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 13, 2023
These network vulnerabilities targeted “are a boon for … state-sponsored threat actors,” Satnam Narang, staff research engineer at Tenable, told Fox News.
From Fox News • Oct. 28, 2020
Tenable, ten′a-bl, adj. capable of being retained, kept, or defended.—ns.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
