able

[ey-buhl]

See more synonyms for able on Thesaurus.com

adjective, a·bler, a·blest.

having necessary power, skill, resources, or qualifications; qualified: able to lift a two-hundred-pound weight; able to write music; able to travel widely; able to vote.
having unusual or superior intelligence, skill, etc.: an able leader.
showing talent, skill, or knowledge: an able speech.

legally empowered, qualified, or authorized.

noun

(usually initial capital letter) a code word formerly used in communications to represent the letter A.

Origin of able

1275–1325; Middle English < Middle French < Latin habilis handy, equivalent to hab(ēre) to have, hold + -ilis -ile

Related formso·ver·a·ble, adjectiveo·ver·a·b·ly, adverb

Synonyms for able

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1. fit, fitted. 2. talented; skilled, clever, ingenious. 3. apt.

Synonym study

1. Able, capable, competent all mean possessing adequate power for doing something. Able implies power equal to effort required: able to finish in time. Capable implies power to meet or fulfill ordinary requirements: a capable worker. Competent suggests power to meet demands in a completely satisfactory manner: a competent nurse.

Antonyms for able

1. incompetent.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for ablest

good, adept, capable, apt, competent, easy, ready, adequate, strong, intelligent, smart, skilled, effective, efficient, responsible, prepared, keen, adroit, agile, alert

Examples from the Web for ablest

Contemporary Examples of ablest

Their finest thinkers and ablest warriors migrated southward.
India’s Newest State Telangana Is Bosnia Redux
Kranti Rai
March 22, 2014
Defense Secretary Robert Gates saw Petraeus as the ablest choice.
New Biography of General Petraeus Misses the Man
John Barry
February 2, 2012
For many years his staff has been the ablest on Capitol Hill, but most of the public never knew their names.
Ted Kennedy, the Eulogist
Adam Clymer
August 26, 2009

Historical Examples of ablest

One of the ablest men, Mr. Toad, after all, that this country ever produced.
Vivian Grey
Earl of Beaconsfield, Benjamin Disraeli
Very many of the ablest and noblest statesmen of the time shared it with him.
Patrick Henry
Moses Coit Tyler
He is their ablest general, and very active and enterprising.
At Aboukir and Acre
George Alfred Henty
It was shared and advocated by many of the best and ablest men.
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No 3, September 1864
Various
The ablest critics and musicians in Europe have taken part in it.
The Standard Oratorios
George P. Upton

British Dictionary definitions for ablest

able

adjective

(postpositive) having the necessary power, resources, skill, time, opportunity, etc, to do somethingable to swim
capable; competent; talentedan able teacher
law qualified, competent, or authorized to do some specific act

Word Origin for able

C14: ultimately from Latin habilis easy to hold, manageable, apt, from habēre to have, hold + -ilis -ile

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for ablest

able

adj.

early 14c., from Old French (h)able (14c.), from Latin habilem, habilis "easily handled, apt," verbal adjective from habere "to hold" (see habit). "Easy to be held," hence "fit for a purpose." The silent h- was dropped in English and resisted academic attempts to restore it 16c.-17c., but some derivatives acquired it (e.g. habiliment, habilitate), via French.

Able-whackets - A popular sea-game with cards, in which the loser is beaten over the palms of the hands with a handkerchief tightly twisted like a rope. Very popular with horny-fisted sailors. [Smyth, "Sailor's Word-Book," 1867]