applicability

American  

[uh-plik-uh-bil-i-tee] / əˌplɪk əˈbɪl ɪ ti /

Rarely applicableness

noun

1. the fact or quality of applying to a certain situation or range of situations; relevance, appropriateness, or usefulness.

   Each clinician should evaluate the applicability of these guidelines to their own practice and patients.

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Other Word Forms

• nonapplicability
  noun
• unapplicability
  noun

Etymology

Origin of applicability

applic(able) ( def. ) + -ability ( def. )

Explanation

Applicability is the usefulness of something for a particular task. Hammers have great applicability for driving in nails. When something is applicable, it is suited to something or useful for a task. The applicability of a thing refers to how useful it is in a given situation. On a resume, talking about your favorite movie probably would have no applicability: it's pointless. A plunger has great applicability in a bathroom, but no applicability anywhere else. You can think of applicability as usefulness plus timeliness. If something has applicability, it will come in handy at the moment it is needed.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

applicability

And though a film’s contextual significance is an important part of determining what is and isn’t a timeless movie, applicability isn’t everything, either.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

One challenge is the huge variability in the applicability of AI: While some tasks can be handed over to AI almost entirely, most cannot.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026

"This development establishes a new foundation for generating fragile-to-robust nonreciprocal quantum resources with future practical applicability," says Nori.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 12, 2026

"We have shown this technology has broad applicability including military operations and for homeland defense," Northrop told AFP in a statement.

From Barron's ● Mar. 16, 2026

In biology there is a principle of powerful if imperfect applicability called recapitulation: in our individual embryonic development we retrace the evolutionary history of the species.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Related Words

• appropriateness