transferable
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
- non-transferability noun
- non-transferable adjective
- transferability noun
- untransferable adjective
Explanation
If something can be transferred from one person to another, it's transferable. That's good news, if you're talking about front-row tickets to the Mariah Carey concert. One way that anthropologists decide whether a group has a "culture" is by determining whether the skills and habits they practice are transferable from one generation to the next. For example, chimps are known to teach their young how to use twigs to fish for grubs. That means the skill gets passed on — it's transferable. In the legal or financial sense, transferable refers to something the value of which can be passed from one person to another. Remember: those airline tickets aren't transferable: only you can use them!
Vocabulary lists containing transferable
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.
But it turned out her love was transferable.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 12, 2026
The digital tokens will not represent an ownership stake, are not expected to be transferable, and rewards will not include profits.
From Barron's • Dec. 31, 2025
The two have also mentioned ending capital-gains taxes for home sellers, declaring a housing emergency and making most mortgages transferable between home sellers and buyers, a process known as mortgage assumption.
From MarketWatch • Nov. 11, 2025
"There's a lot of transferable skills from both sides - that's a huge advantage here," she added.
From BBC • Sep. 4, 2025
Simple, direct, and transferable to all men, all women, all people of all nations of the earth.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
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.
