abled
Americanadjective
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noting or relating to a person unaffected by physical, mental, or cognitive impairment; nondisabled.
I don’t think abled folks realize how inaccessible basic infrastructure is.
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Rare. noting or relating to a disabled person who uses assistive technology or accommodations that make education, jobs, or other activities accessible to them.
Teachers and institutions need to understand that if tools are provided to children with disabilities, they will become abled individuals in society.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of abled
First recorded in 1945–50; back formation from disabled ( def. )
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.
Mr. Charles’s interest in alternatively abled people, or people who can do special things, that interest has long tentacles.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
Because reality shows like this don’t explore the nuances of disability, abled audiences are unaware of how a person’s healthcare is tied into their ability to qualify for programs like SSI and SSDI.
From Salon ● Apr. 1, 2025
She said she wanted to help those who were "financially excluded or differently abled".
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2024
The norm that every abled person receiving cash payments should be seeking a job can also be challenged.
From Scientific American ● Jan. 6, 2023
Yet, for a long while, only they which possessed strong spying-glasses did be abled to see me truly, for I was a great way off.
From The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson
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.
