livable
Americanadjective
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suitable for living in; habitable; comfortable.
It took a lot of work to make the old house livable.
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worth living; endurable.
She needed something to make life more livable.
- Synonyms:
- worthwhile, bearable, tolerable, enjoyable, inhabitable
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that can be lived with; companionable (often used in combination withwith ).
polite and charming but not altogether livable-with.
adjective
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(of a room, house, etc) suitable for living in
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worth living; tolerable
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(foll by with) pleasant to live (with)
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of livable
Explanation
Something livable is habitable — in other words, it's nice enough to live in. Your first apartment might not be beautiful or spacious, but it's livable. A renter might make her little house more livable by hanging curtains and painting the dark walls in lighter colors, and an animal shelter might need to make their kennels more livable for dogs, with soft beds and plenty of fresh water. Another way to use this adjective is to mean "worth living," as when you say, "Even when my job isn't going well, my family makes life livable."
Vocabulary lists containing livable
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.
These hunting opportunities, combined with warmer conditions, may have made the region livable again after long periods of extreme cold.
From Science Daily • May 13, 2026
Lynette Vanhorne, a resident, said in March that her condo isn’t livable, so she is staying at the nursing home where she works.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026
Repairs weren’t made, there wasn’t enough heat in the winter or cooling in the summer, the houses were barely livable, and the landlord didn’t care or listen to the tenants.
From Salon • Apr. 19, 2026
Their friend Georgia Archer says the couple’s home “feels polished without trying to win an argument, beautiful but very cozy and livable, and very much ‘them.’”
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026
My grandfather engaged a special company to come in with polishing machines and clean the house; they washed the windows, painted, and disinfected the place from top to bottom until it was livable again.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
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.
