educable

American  

[ej-oo-kuh-buhl] / ˈɛdʒ ʊ kə bəl /

Also educatable

adjective

1. capable of being educated.

2. of or relating to individuals with mild intellectual disabilities who may achieve self-sufficiency.

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educable British  

/ ˈɛdjʊkəbəl, ˈɛdjʊˌkeɪtəbəl /

adjective

1. capable of being trained or educated; able to learn

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Other Word Forms

• educability noun
• noneducable adjective
• uneducability noun
• uneducable adjective

Etymology

Origin of educable

First recorded in 1835–45; educ(ate) + -able

Explanation

If someone's educable, they're capable of being taught. Although not a single student in your beginning Spanish class knows how to speak the language yet, your teacher has faith that you're all educable. You may have given up hope on your old dog, fearing he'll never learn to sit on command. If a good dog trainer tells you he's still educable, that means she believes that she can teach him to do it, using plenty of treats and positive reinforcement. Anyone who can get something out of an education is educable — in other words, able to be educated.

Example Sentences

When asked if men are educable on this front, Zernike laughs and points out that “my sons by osmosis learned that women can be geniuses.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 28, 2023

As we have suggested several times in the past, the problem is not that Mountain State children are less educable than their peers elsewhere.

From Washington Times • Nov. 6, 2019

Suggested reading:Kurt Vonnegut, "Player Piano."I'm a long-time computer jock, designed and wrote educable specialized neural network...

From New York Times • Sep. 19, 2016

Kraus once said, “I have nothing to say about Hitler,” because he directed his criticism only at educable, comprehensible subjects—worthy subjects.

From Slate • Oct. 11, 2013

Since we had gained that much education, the high school teachers assumed that we were educable.

From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac