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Synonyms

traceable

American  
[trey-suh-buhl] / ˈtreɪ sə bəl /

adjective

  1. capable of being traced.

  2. attributable or ascribable (usually followed byto ).

    a victory traceable to good coaching.


Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of traceable

First recorded in 1740–50; trace 1 + -able

Explanation

If something is traceable, it can be tracked or detected — like an email address or evidence of a crime. The word traceable is just the adjective form of the common verb trace, meaning “to find.” So if you describe something as traceable, that just means that it can be detected. A poison that can be discovered in the body of a murder victim, for example, is a traceable poison. The word can also be used in the sense of something that can be tracked, such as a suspicious money transaction that’s traceable to your bank account. If something is traceable, it has left you a trail to follow it.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing traceable

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.

See Examples For:

This is just the spending that is publicly traceable.

From Salon Sep. 2, 2026

The report says its research can help such plaintiffs show they have legal standing to bring lawsuits, which requires a concrete injury that is “fairly traceable to the challenged action of the defendant.”

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 19, 2026

The project will consist of seven albums, released over seven months, each devoted to a genre — hip-hop, reggae, jazz, country, Haitian kompa, R&B — and each traceable to a pivotal moment in his career.

From Los Angeles Times Feb. 25, 2026

To overcome this obstacle, the researchers designed a patent-pending staining approach that attaches traceable silver and bromine markers to widely used cellulose- and latex-based binders in graphite- and silicon-based anodes.

From Science Daily Feb. 20, 2026

Young African American men were the only group to experience a steep increase in joblessness between 1980 and 2000, a development directly traceable to the increase in the penal population.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

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