power or capacity to do or act physically, mentally, legally, morally, financially, etc.
competence in an activity or occupation because of one's skill, training, or other qualification.
the ability to sing well.
abilities, talents; special skills or aptitudes.
Composing music is beyond his abilities.
possession of the qualities required to do something; necessary skill, competence, or power
the ability to cope with a problem
considerable proficiency; natural capability
a man of ability
(plural) special talents
Ability, faculty, talent denote qualifications or powers. Ability is a general word for power, native or acquired, enabling one to do things well: a person of great ability; ability in mathematics. Faculty denotes a natural ability for a particular kind of action: a faculty of saying what he means. Talent is often used to mean a native ability or aptitude in a special field: a talent for music or art.
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English (h)abilite, from Middle French, from Latin habilitās “aptitude,” equivalent to habili(s) “handy” ( see able) + -tās -ty 2; replacing Middle English ablete, from Old French, from Latin, as above
Middle English -abilite, from French -abilité, from Latin -ābilitās (inflectional stem -ābilitāt- )
How does ability compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Ability is skill or talent. You might have the ability to blow bubbles, or sing in a falsetto, or dance the waltz. Or, just maybe, you have the ability to do all three things at once. Impressive! From the Old French ablate "expert at handling (something)," and that from the Latin habilitatem, "aptitude," comes the English ability, a noun indicating the power to act, perform, or accomplish. Capacity is similar in meaning to ability, but note that people have a capacity for doing something, and an ability to do something.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There were concerns about the chain’s ability to win over younger consumers, after serving an older generation for decades.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
But charter schools choose students by lottery, not based on academic ability.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Kyle Shanahan must believe the olfactory exhilaration of smelling salts enhances his coaching ability.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
They are creative projects with the sneaky ability to hollow you out sometimes, especially when the story requires you to watch someone move through a series of the hardest days of their life.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026
If there are exact locations in the brain that allow for the ability to hear or to breathe, is there a place that generates human social behavior?
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
The decision to collect, preserve and shape such a rare material provides evidence of the resourcefulness and mental abilities of the early humans living there.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026
In 2025, models made by the likes of Google and OpenAI reached gold-level scores for the first time -- but could not match the abilities of five human contestants who got 100 percent.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
The prophecy also claims that the fated twins have the power to command daemons, supernatural beings with unearthly abilities.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
People who consumed the greatest amounts of sweeteners experienced a 62% faster decline in overall thinking and memory abilities than those who consumed the least.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 18, 2026
It was the king of Syracuse who asked Archimedes to determine whether his crown was pure gold or had been mixed with lead, a task beyond the abilities of all the scientists at the time.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
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.
