comparable
Americanadjective
-
capable of being compared; having features in common with something else to permit or suggest comparison.
He considered the Roman and British empires to be comparable.
- Synonyms:
- similar, equivalent, equal, like
-
worthy of comparison.
shops comparable to those on Fifth Avenue.
-
usable for comparison; similar.
We have no comparable data on Russian farming.
adjective
-
worthy of comparison
-
able to be compared (with)
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of comparable
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin comparābilis, equivalent to comparā(re) “to compare ” + -bilis -ble
Explanation
Use comparable to describe two things that are alike. If you are offered two jobs with comparable salaries, you might take the one where the weather is nicer. Comparable can also mean exactly what it looks like: things you are “able” to “compare” are comparable. When you say that comparing two things is “like comparing apples and oranges,” you're saying the two things in question are not comparable. When you pronounce this word, remember that, unlike with “compare,” you emphasize the first syllable and swallow the first “a”: COM-pra-ble. The sounds of the two words aren't really comparable.
Vocabulary lists containing comparable
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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.
"We're seeing already now... really extreme fire emissions comparable to those previous strong El Nino years, and also the extent of the smoke and the haze and the air quality impacts," Parrington said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 5, 2026
He said similar scrutiny would find comparable errors in the work of other academics.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
Today, the federal-funds rate is roughly comparable to the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
In other words, star formation dropped dramatically without a comparable disappearance of the universe's HI reservoir.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026
Five times or more bigger than any other Mississippian polity, Cahokia’s population of at least fifteen thousand made it comparable in size to London, but on a landmass without Paris, Cordoba, or Rome.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
