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
Explanation
Something understandable can be understood or grasped. It makes sense. Since understanding something means you comprehend or get it, when things are understandable, they can be perceived or fathomed. If a friend cancels plans to see a movie because he's sick, that's understandable. Leaving one job for a better paying job is understandable. Eating a lot of cake on your birthday is understandable. Understandable things are easy to grasp and no one is likely to doubt or question them. The opposite of understandable would be weird, odd, or inexplicable.
Vocabulary lists containing understandable
-able, -ible
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-able, -ible
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-able, -ible
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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.
It's understandable that you're feeling a mix of emotions right now, especially with everything going on.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026
Not paying off your student loans can be an understandable temptation, especially when you’re facing what feels like an insurmountable amount of debt.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 11, 2026
O'Neill suggested that would be understandable if his side were holding on to a lead in the final stages.
From BBC • Apr. 11, 2026
It’s understandable — and probably necessary — for the congressman to retreat, as he suggested, to spent time with his wife and family.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026
Although in an understandable hurry to incinerate the magazines, Vincent paused for a moment to stare at a tiny yellow-breasted warbler flitting about in the green mist of the left-hand tamarisk tree.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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.
