predictable
Americanadjective
-
able to be foretold or declared in advance.
New technology allows predictable weather forecasting.
-
expected, especially on the basis of previous or known behavior.
His complaints are so predictable.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of predictable
First recorded in 1815–25; predict ( def. ) + -able ( def. )
Explanation
If you can predict it, I predict you'll call it predictable. In other words, anything that you can see or know before it happens is predictable. When she got out the fine china early in Act I, you could just tell the stuff would be smashed in Act III. It was all too predictable. Given the facts of their lives, the end of their relationship was predictable: he was married, and so was she, but not to each other. The roots of the word are fun to analyze: pre- means "before," dict means "to say," and able means, well, "able." Put them together, and you'll see that predictable means "able to be said before (it happens)" or, simply, something you know of before it happens.
Vocabulary lists containing predictable
-able
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The Egypt Game
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Words to Describe a Movie
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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.
Imagine a system where preventive care is covered at little or no cost, and primary care and essential medications have affordable and predictable copays.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
The environment is enormously complicated, but it also follows many predictable rules.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 18, 2026
The Dodgers acquired Skubal in an abundantly predictable bombshell trade with the Detroit Tigers in exchange for a trio of prospects, wanting to test the idiom that a ballclub can never have enough pitching.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
The appointment isn't the predictable, conservative SFA choice like we've seen in the past.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
The future is too interesting and dangerous to be entrusted to any predictable, reliable agency.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
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.
