adjective
Other Word Forms
- defensibility noun
- defensibleness noun
- defensibly adverb
- nondefensibility noun
- nondefensible adjective
- nondefensibleness noun
- nondefensibly adverb
- undefensible adjective
- undefensibleness noun
- undefensibly adverb
Etymology
Origin of defensible
1250–1300; Middle English < Late Latin defēnsibilis, equivalent to Latin defēns ( us ) ( defense ) + -ibilis -ible; replacing Middle English defensable < Old French < Late Latin defēnsābilis, equivalent to defēnsā ( re ) (frequentative of dēfendere to defend ) + -bilis -ble
Explanation
Something that's defensible is excusable — you can defend it or justify it. Mistaking your friend for her twin sister, as awkward as it may be, is a defensible blunder. In politics, there are often issues to which some people object strongly, while others argue that they're completely defensible positions. You may believe it's defensible to wage war in some circumstances, while your pacifist friend thinks it's never okay to kill for any reason. Defensible comes from an Old French root, defendre, "defend or resist," from the Latin root defendere, "guard or protect."
Vocabulary lists containing defensible
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.
For a pitcher under contract to the Dodgers through 2035, it is certainly defensible in the short and the long term.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026
While the forward curve is telling them to run, “the rational response—the only financially defensible response—is to cut runs.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
Those responses are entirely defensible in moral terms.
From Salon • Mar. 18, 2026
He said the script was "very defensible" and the phone contract comparison was "fair", since the script was designed to meet teenagers "at their level of understanding".
From BBC • Mar. 2, 2026
It was necessary to pare down faith to a set of core beliefs in order to make it defensible.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
