understandable
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
- nonunderstandable adjective
- understandability noun
- understandably adverb
- ununderstandable adjective
Etymology
Origin of understandable
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English: originally, “capable of understanding”; understand + -able
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.
Despite the age gap, the off-kilter attraction between Dianne and Sam is understandable, given how unhappy both of them are with their stuck lives.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
The public at large bought into those efforts with little skepticism in the understandable desire to have Latinos star in the American story.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026
Clearly, reliability is an issue, but that's understandable in their first year as a power-unit manufacturer.
From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026
“With input prices soaring and rate cut expectations evaporating, it’s understandable why it is a poor performer,” he says.
From Barron's • Mar. 20, 2026
Milton no longer had any brain waves, so it was understandable why, hovering in the Cadillac, he might have forgotten that the Zebra Room had burned down long ago.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
