movable
Americanadjective
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capable of being moved; not fixed in one place, position, or posture.
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Law. (of property)
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not permanent in reference to place; capable of being moved without injury.
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personal, as distinguished from real.
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changing from one date to another in different years.
a movable holiday.
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(of type or matrices) able to be rearranged.
noun
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an article of furniture that is not fixed in place.
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Law. Often movables. an article of personal property not attached to land.
adjective
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able to be moved or rearranged; not fixed
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(esp of religious festivals such as Easter) varying in date from year to year
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(usually speltmoveable) law denoting or relating to personal property as opposed to realty
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printing (of type) cast singly so that each character is on a separate piece of type suitable for composition by hand, as founder's type
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of movable
1350–1400; Middle English mevable, movable < Anglo-French movable. See move, -able
Explanation
When you can change or shift the position of something, it's movable. With two flat tires and a bent wheel, your bike is no longer movable. Movable comes from move and its Latin source, movere, "set in motion." If you can move something, it's movable. That can mean physically moving it, the way you relocate a movable screen to divide a room. When events are movable, their dates can change. This is the source of "a movable feast," a religious holiday that falls annually on the same day of the week but a varying date. Easter is one example of a movable holiday.
Vocabulary lists containing movable
The Renaissance and Reformation, Lessons 3–4
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Chapters 10–12
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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.
The demarcation of what counts as misfortune on such sites is arbitrary, murky and movable, ultimately guaranteeing proxy bets that skirt regulatory requirements.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 5, 2026
New York already depends heavily on its highest earners—many of whom work in service industries that are easily movable, such as finance, technology, and media.
From Barron's • Apr. 17, 2026
Not only has the venturi-underbody ground effect philosophy introduced in 2022 been abandoned, but movable front and rear wings have been introduced.
From BBC • Dec. 10, 2025
In normal times, the rich are deeply rooted and not movable.
From Salon • Dec. 5, 2025
Of those advances—in paper, movable type, metallurgy, presses, inks, and scripts—paper and the idea of movable type reached Europe from China.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
