conceivable
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of conceivable
Explanation
If you see yellowish skies on a humid, spring evening in Kansas, it is entirely conceivable that a tornado is in the making. That is to say, it's imaginable or even possible, so make sure you take every conceivable precaution. If you conceive of something, you imagine or think of it. So, it makes sense that the adjective conceivable describes things that can be imagined or thought of. People often use the word conceivable in extreme contexts. If you look everywhere for your homework but still can't find it, you might declare, "I searched in every conceivable location! My homework must have disappeared." In response, your teacher might remark that disappearing homework is inconceivable, or "impossible to imagine."
Vocabulary lists containing conceivable
Ungifted
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Essential English Vocabulary, List 6
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Hard Times
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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.
So it’s not just conceivable that voters could think of him as too aggressive—I specifically hear that it’s off-putting for some.
From Slate ● Oct. 19, 2026
Such was Rangers' dominance, their complete owning of their visitors in every conceivable category, the Celtic managerial brains trust seemed just as lost as every one of their players on the field.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
Given the growing power of AI, it’s conceivable customers can spin up their own software systems.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Of course, in the atomic age, wars between imperial great powers, as in World War I and World War II, are no longer truly conceivable.
From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2026
Burnham tried to anticipate every conceivable threat to the fair.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
