comprehensible
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of comprehensible
From the Latin word comprehēnsibilis, dating back to 1520–30. See comprehension, -ible
Explanation
Anything comprehensible is clear and intelligible — you can understand it. On the first day of school, if nothing your teacher says is comprehensible, you'll know you're in the wrong French class! When you comprehend something, you understand it, so when things are comprehensible, they're clear enough that they can be understood. Go down the hall to the French I classroom, and the teacher's slow speech and clear explanations will make the language comprehensible. If you write your homework out carefully and neatly, it will be comprehensible enough for your teacher to read it.
Vocabulary lists containing comprehensible
Vocabulary from Readings 2, Unit 5
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Obvious
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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.
Another Iranian broke in to warn off an approaching ship, an argument breaking out in barely comprehensible English: “Serious warning! Serious warning!”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 9, 2026
"What will never be comprehensible, justified or admitted is violence," he said.
From Barron's • Mar. 16, 2026
The language was often comprehensible even for non-Yiddish speakers.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 15, 2025
The mechanisms through which it ravages bats, once mysterious, are now comprehensible.
From Salon • Jul. 30, 2024
The codebook was like a dictionary, enabling the code clerk to translate a message into a secret language, comprehensible only to those with access to it.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
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.
