abled

American  

[ey-buhld] / ˈeɪ bəld /

adjective

1. noting or relating to a person unaffected by physical, mental, or cognitive impairment; nondisabled.

   I don’t think abled folks realize how inaccessible basic infrastructure is.

2. Rare. noting or relating to a disabled person who uses assistive technology or accommodations that make education, jobs, or other activities accessible to them.

   Teachers and institutions need to understand that if tools are provided to children with disabilities, they will become abled individuals in society.

---

abled British  

/ ˈeɪbəld /

adjective

1. having a range of physical powers as specified (esp in the phrases less abled, differently abled )

---

Etymology

Origin of abled

First recorded in 1945–50; back formation from disabled ( def. )

Example Sentences

Most often you see disabled women in romantic films, with the story’s focus on how an abled man will find the ability to love a woman with a disability.

From Salon • Dec. 5, 2024

She said she wanted to help those who were "financially excluded or differently abled".

From BBC • Aug. 11, 2024

“We’ve got Black and brown people in addition to white people, and we’ve got differently abled people in the show. We’ve got queer people,” he says.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 14, 2023

The norm that every abled person receiving cash payments should be seeking a job can also be challenged.

From Scientific American • Jan. 6, 2023

Yet was I abled now to see that there went a bulk between me and the far shinings, and did know that this great thing was surely the hill on which the Pyramid did stand.

From The Night Land by Hodgson, William Hope