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capable

[ key-puh-buhl ]
/ ˈkeɪ pə bəl /
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See synonyms for: capable / capableness / capably on Thesaurus.com

adjective
having power and ability; efficient; competent: a capable instructor.
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Idioms about capable

    capable of,
    1. having the ability or capacity for: a man capable of judging art.
    2. open to the influence or effect of; susceptible of: a situation capable of improvement.
    3. predisposed to; inclined to: capable of murder.

Origin of capable

1555–65; <Late Latin capābilis roomy, apparently equivalent to cap(āx) roomy + -ābilisable; see capacity

synonym study for capable

1. See able.

OTHER WORDS FROM capable

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use capable in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for capable

capable
/ (ˈkeɪpəbəl) /

adjective
having ability, esp in many different fields; competent
(postpositive foll by of) able or having the skill (to do something)she is capable of hard work
(postpositive foll by of) having the temperament or inclination (to do something)he seemed capable of murder

Derived forms of capable

capableness, nouncapably, adverb

Word Origin for capable

C16: from French, from Late Latin capābilis able to take in, from Latin capere to take
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
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