debatable

[dih-bey-tuh-buh l]

See more synonyms for debatable on Thesaurus.com

adjective

open to question; in dispute; doubtful: Whether or not he is qualified for the job is debatable.
capable of being debated.

Origin of debatable

1425–75; late Middle English < Middle French. See debate, -able

Related formsnon·de·bat·a·ble, adjectiveun·de·bat·a·ble, adjective

Synonyms

See more synonyms for debatable on Thesaurus.com

1. questionable, dubious, arguable, disputable.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for debatable

Contemporary Examples

Though this too is debatable given that 25,000 to 40,000 people a year die of influenza—the vast majority of them unvaccinated.
When You Get the Flu This Winter, You Can Blame Anti-Vaxxers
Kent Sepkowitz
January 1, 2015
Some people may have thought that was worth the trade off; That's a debatable point.
Rand Paul Beats Ted Cruz, Saves NSA From ‘Reform’
Tim Mak, Olivia Nuzzi
November 19, 2014
Whether he would actually want to pay for the changes he calls for is debatable.
The Big, Long, 30-Year Conservative Lie
Monica Potts
August 8, 2014
Whether history will repeat itself in that regard is debatable.
Dallas’s Bishop Arts District Brings European Flavor To The Texas Heartland
Pete Freedman
July 10, 2014
Whether these observations actually meant anything substantial is debatable.
Turns Out, a Video of Bison Purportedly Fleeing Yellowstone Is a Hoax
Timothy Lesle
April 8, 2014

Historical Examples

In the debatable class there ought to be a definition of all disputed matters.
Phaedrus
Plato
Then Socrates: The question would seem at any rate to be debatable.
The Symposium
Xenophon
And the love-part of it seemed to him fixed: it didn't occur to him that that was debatable.
The Best Short Stories of 1917
Various
Now, it was singularly unfortunate that the question was ever debatable.
Bones
Edgar Wallace
My hotel stands in the debatable land between the two districts.
Gossamer
George A. Birmingham

British Dictionary definitions for debatable

debatable

debateable

adjective

open to question; disputable
law in dispute, as land or territory to which two parties lay claim

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

Word Origin and History for debatable

adj.

1530s (late 15c. in Anglo-Latin), from Old French debatable (Modern French débattable), from debatre (see debate (v.)). Earliest references were to lands claimed by two nations; general sense is from 1580s.

debatable

Origin of .css-1fxfie5{font-size:22px;}@media (max-width:768px){.css-1fxfie5{font-size:18px;margin:0 10px 10px 0;word-break:break-all;word-wrap:break-word;-webkit-hyphens:auto;-moz-hyphens:auto;-ms-hyphens:auto;hyphens:auto;line-height:22px;}}debatable

Synonyms

Examples from the Web for debatable

Contemporary Examples

Though this too is debatable given that 25,000 to 40,000 people a year die of influenza—the vast majority of them unvaccinated.

Some people may have thought that was worth the trade off; That's a debatable point.

Whether he would actually want to pay for the changes he calls for is debatable.

Whether history will repeat itself in that regard is debatable.

Whether these observations actually meant anything substantial is debatable.

Historical Examples

In the debatable class there ought to be a definition of all disputed matters.

Then Socrates: The question would seem at any rate to be debatable.

And the love-part of it seemed to him fixed: it didn't occur to him that that was debatable.

Now, it was singularly unfortunate that the question was ever debatable.

My hotel stands in the debatable land between the two districts.

debatable

debateable

Word Origin and History for debatable

adj.

Origin of debatable