marriageable

American  

[mar-i-juh-buhl] / ˈmær ɪ dʒə bəl /

adjective

1. suitable or attractive for marriage.

   The handsome and successful young man was considered eminently marriageable.

2. of an age suitable for marriage.

   a marriageable daughter.

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marriageable British  

/ ˈmærɪdʒəbəl /

adjective

1. (esp of women) suitable for marriage, usually with reference to age

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Other Word Forms

• marriageability noun
• marriageableness noun
• nonmarriageability noun
• nonmarriageable adjective
• unmarriageable adjective

Etymology

Origin of marriageable

First recorded in 1545–55; marriage + -able

Example Sentences

In India, the legal marriageable age is 21 for men and 18 for women.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 4, 2023

As I entered my marriageable years, I was introduced to suitable men from Lima, Peru; Tenerife in the Canary Islands; Paramaribo, Suriname; and Accra, Ghana.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 23, 2022

Once Rhaenyra becomes marriageable, Viserys fields a plethora of suitors for her hand.

From Salon • Oct. 22, 2022

The biggest gap between men and women of marriageable age, defined here as 15 to 29, will come in the next few decades, as the babies of the past decade grow up.

From Washington Post • Apr. 18, 2018

But if I made myself unsellable here, my parents need only wait until China, and there, where anything happens, they would be able to unload us, even me—sellable, marriageable.

From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston