curable
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- curability noun
- curableness noun
- curably adverb
- uncurable adjective
- uncurableness noun
- uncurably adverb
Etymology
Origin of curable
1350–1400; Middle English (< Middle French ) < Latin cūrābilis, equivalent to cūrā ( re ) to care for (derivative of cūra care) + -bilis -ble
Explanation
Something curable can be fixed or healed. A curable illness or disorder can be treated and recovered from. A bad infection can be scary, but it's most often curable with antibiotics. There are even types of cancer that, while serious, can be treated and are therefore considered curable. Another meaning of curable is "able to be hardened, or cured." You might apply several coats of a curable coating after sanding and staining your dining room table. The Latin root is cura, "care or concern," and also "means of healing."
Vocabulary lists containing curable
Power Suffix: -able
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-able
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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.
A new scientific breakthrough in the field of Alzheimer’s research is raising hopes that the cruel, crippling and fatal brain disease may eventually become curable.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 29, 2025
The former teacher and father of three told the BBC that if men were offered regular screening from the age of 50, his disease might have been caught when it was still curable.
From BBC • Nov. 20, 2025
Cancers that were considered death sentences not long ago—e.g., advanced melanoma, non-small-cell lung and blood cancers—are now curable.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 16, 2025
“One of the things we talk about is cancer within a team and how there are times when cancer can really affect a lot of things and it’s not curable and it spreads,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 27, 2025
I knew osteosarcoma was highly curable, but still.
From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green
Definitions 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.
