transferable
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Explanation
If something can be transferred from one person to another, it's transferable. That's good news, if you're talking about front-row tickets to the Mariah Carey concert. One way that anthropologists decide whether a group has a "culture" is by determining whether the skills and habits they practice are transferable from one generation to the next. For example, chimps are known to teach their young how to use twigs to fish for grubs. That means the skill gets passed on — it's transferable. In the legal or financial sense, transferable refers to something the value of which can be passed from one person to another. Remember: those airline tickets aren't transferable: only you can use them!
Vocabulary lists containing transferable
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.
Transferable credits saved Fiserv $96 million in 2025, following savings in 2023 and 2024.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026
This Single Transferable Vote system was first used on 3 May 2007, the same day the SNP came to power, and it transformed the political make-up of Scottish local government.
From BBC • May 3, 2022
In Northern Ireland the Single Transferable Vote system is used, where voters rank the parties standing in order of preference.
From BBC • May 23, 2019
October 26, 2010, 2:22 pm 1969 Miracle Not Necessarily Transferable Greg W. Prince is co-author of the blog Faith and Fear in Flushing.
From New York Times • Oct. 26, 2010
Upon every great love are stamped the words, "Not Transferable."
From Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great - Volume 13 Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Lovers by Hubbard, Elbert
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.