predictable

American  

[pri-dik-tuh-buhl] / prɪˈdɪk tə bəl /

adjective

1. able to be foretold or declared in advance.

   New technology allows predictable weather forecasting.

2. expected, especially on the basis of previous or known behavior.

   His complaints are so predictable.

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Other Word Forms

• nonpredictable adjective
• predictably adverb

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.

Example Sentences

Under a nominal GDP target, the central bank commits to a predictable trajectory for total dollar spending in the economy.

From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026

“I think 25 years from now, predictable, stable weather will become a luxury good.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026

Their records show that from January to April, the event has been a reliable and predictable part of the Gulf of Panama for at least 40 years.

From Science Daily • Apr. 26, 2026

Perhaps the most predictable change to have coincided with the women's game becoming more professional has been at the set-piece.

From BBC • Apr. 24, 2026

If he could be with her, so extraordinarily beautiful and yet so ordinary, predictable and domestic and dedicated, then perhaps his life would start to seem believably his.

From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Related Words

• certain