predictable
Americanadjective
-
able to be foretold or declared in advance.
New technology allows predictable weather forecasting.
-
expected, especially on the basis of previous or known behavior.
His complaints are so predictable.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of predictable
First recorded in 1815–25; predict ( def. ) + -able ( def. )
Explanation
If you can predict it, I predict you'll call it predictable. In other words, anything that you can see or know before it happens is predictable. When she got out the fine china early in Act I, you could just tell the stuff would be smashed in Act III. It was all too predictable. Given the facts of their lives, the end of their relationship was predictable: he was married, and so was she, but not to each other. The roots of the word are fun to analyze: pre- means "before," dict means "to say," and able means, well, "able." Put them together, and you'll see that predictable means "able to be said before (it happens)" or, simply, something you know of before it happens.
Vocabulary lists containing predictable
-able
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The Egypt Game
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Words to Describe a Movie
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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.
Predictable harvests and storable surpluses were needed, traditional thinking went, to support large sedentary populations, monumental architecture, and stratified societies—all of which made up what archaeologists called the Neolithic package.
From Science Magazine • Nov. 29, 2023
Predictable considering the organization applauded itself last winter for only having one player — midfielder Jimmy Medranda — not signed through the 2023 season.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 11, 2022
Predictable — we know another one will happen soon.
From Washington Post • Jul. 29, 2022
Predictable and all-American, “Brazen” is the murder mystery version of a Hallmark Christmas romance.
From New York Times • Jan. 13, 2022
Predictable in the order, but a mystery where things will end up.
From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers
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.
