adjective
Other Word Forms
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reusabilitynoun
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reusablenessnoun
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reuseabilitynoun
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reuseablenessnoun
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unusablenessnoun
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unuseablenessnoun
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usabilitynoun
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usablenessnoun
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useabilitynoun
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useablenessnoun
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nonreusableadjective
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nonreuseableadjective
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nonusableadjective
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nonuseableadjective
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reusableadjective
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reuseableadjective
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unusableadjective
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unuseableadjective
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unusablyadverb
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unuseablyadverb
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usablyadverb
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useablyadverb
Etymology
Origin of usable
Explanation
Something that's usable can be successfully used right away for its intended purpose. If your car is usable, it's running just fine. A usable tent has all of its poles and is more or less waterproof, and a usable pair of shoes fits well and doesn't have holes. Describing something as usable can sometimes be faint praise: "Well, this basketball is usable, but just barely." When information is described as usable, it usually means it's actively available, and not just stored in a computer, for example. This is a relatively new adjective, first appearing around 1840.
Vocabulary lists containing usable
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.
But the benefits of merely maximizing AI usage have been unclear, with instances such as Uber burning through their entire 2026 AI budget in four months, without shipping a usable feature.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 12, 2026
Iran’s nearly $8 billion crypto ecosystem is growing, and Treasury has moved aggressively to constrict it at the point where crypto must be converted into usable currency, such as dollars.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026
Systems known as thermophotovoltaics generate electricity from heat by converting thermal radiation into usable power.
From Science Daily • Jun. 8, 2026
Still, the WireGuard protocol ensures optimal performance in many cases, and the speeds we got during testing were still completely usable for most tasks.
From Salon • Jun. 2, 2026
It makes my arm ache and a mess on the floor, but the table is still usable, if propped just right against the wall, and now there’s wood in the stove.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
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.
