exceptionable

American  

[ik-sep-shuh-nuh-buhl] / ɪkˈsɛp ʃə nə bəl /

adjective

1. liable to exception or objection; objectionable.

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exceptionable British  

/ ɪkˈsɛpʃənəbəl /

adjective

1. open to or subject to objection; objectionable

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Other Word Forms

• exceptionableness noun
• exceptionably adverb

Etymology

Origin of exceptionable

First recorded in 1655–65; exception + -able

Explanation

If something is exceptionable, someone is bound to find something wrong with it. Be careful not to confuse exceptionable with exceptional, which means something remarkable and particularly unusual, or with unexceptionable, which means the exact opposite of exceptionable — something quite ordinary and hardly to be noticed. "Puppies are cute" is about as unexceptionable a sentence as you are likely to find. Unless you're a puppy hater, of course.

Example Sentences

Brooks will be available in relief and has shown exceptionable athleticism.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 25, 2023

There should be room in today’s vast television landscape for a series that points out the exceptionable.

From New York Times • Nov. 11, 2012

There was little in the Iraq speech that was exceptional with respect to language or policy, and not much that was exceptionable either.

From Salon • Sep. 1, 2010

With the exception of the always exceptionable coal miners, there had not been a major new strike in six months.*

From Time Magazine Archive

I do not say that it would set them aside; because everything of this kind is a question of degree; but the argument in their favour would be less exceptionable than it is.

From The Ethnology of the British Islands by Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)