airworthy

American

[air-wur-thee] / ˈɛərˌwɜr ði /

adjective

airworthier, airworthiest

(of an aircraft) meeting established standards for safe flight; equipped and maintained in condition to fly.

airworthy British

/ ˈɛəˌwɜːðɪ /

adjective

(of an aircraft) safe to fly

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Etymology

Origin of airworthy

First recorded in 1820–30; air ¹ + -worthy

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.

UPS and its contractors are responsible for performing shop work to keep the planes airworthy.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026

Out of 7,377 that were built, the PA474 is one of only two airworthy Lancasters left in the world.

From BBC • Jul. 12, 2025

The company is also accused of falsifying Federal Aviation Administration release certificates, used to show that an aircraft is airworthy.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2025

Several travelers are suing Boeing for failing to ensure that the airplane was airworthy.

From Slate • Feb. 6, 2024

Such gains in efficiency, which give constructors more latitude in the placing of weight and strength where experience show they are needed, have gone far to produce an airworthy machine.

From Learning to Fly A Practical Manual for Beginners by Grahame-White, Claude

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023