applicability

American  

[uh-plik-uh-bil-i-tee] / əˌplɪk əˈbɪl ɪ ti /

Rarely applicableness

noun

1. the fact or quality of applying to a certain situation or range of situations; relevance, appropriateness, or usefulness.

   Each clinician should evaluate the applicability of these guidelines to their own practice and patients.

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Other Word Forms

• nonapplicability
  noun
• unapplicability
  noun

Etymology

Origin of applicability

applic(able) ( def. ) + -ability ( def. )

Explanation

Applicability is the usefulness of something for a particular task. Hammers have great applicability for driving in nails. When something is applicable, it is suited to something or useful for a task. The applicability of a thing refers to how useful it is in a given situation. On a resume, talking about your favorite movie probably would have no applicability: it's pointless. A plunger has great applicability in a bathroom, but no applicability anywhere else. You can think of applicability as usefulness plus timeliness. If something has applicability, it will come in handy at the moment it is needed.

Example Sentences

Instead, jurors will consider the potential applicability of Section 230 protections during their deliberations about the companies’ conduct.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 26, 2026

By emphasizing observable symptoms and illness trajectories rather than culturally bound categories, dimensional approaches offer universal applicability while respecting local contexts and experiences.

From Science Daily • Oct. 14, 2025

We’re early in the discovery of the applicability and how capable this technology is and what it can do for customers.

From Barron's • Oct. 8, 2025

Estados Unidos Mexicanos thwart case-by-case determination of PLCAA’s applicability, a process that promotes careful explication of the law.

From Slate • Jun. 6, 2025

In biology there is a principle of powerful if imperfect applicability called recapitulation: in our individual embryonic development we retrace the evolutionary history of the species.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Related Words

• appropriateness