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debatable

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old French debatable (French débattable), equivalent to debate + -able.

Pronunciation

Adjective

debatable (comparative more debatable, superlative most debatable)

  1. Open to debate; not fully proved or confirmed.
    Those data are debatable: no one has been able to replicate them.
    It's debatable whether he is the best candidate for the position.
    • 2019 January 7, “Exploring the SCP Foundation: Pattern Screamers” (0:11 from the start), in The Exploring Series, archived from the original on 11 January 2023:
      While the SCP universe is, of course, filled with things that we would certainly not consider "real", most of the SCPs are tangible or perceivable in some way. There are those concepts, however, whose reality is debatable, even to the SCP Foundation, begging them to ask the question of what, exactly, is real.
    • 2019 August 21, Zachary B. Wolf, “Trump is either trolling everyone or thinks he’s like a god”, in CNN:
      There’s been a change in President Donald Trump. He used to say he had accomplished more than any other President, a debatable claim. But now he’s using messianic language about himself.
  2. Able to be debated; up for discussion.
    The lack of bonuses this year is not debatable.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

debatable (plural debatables)

  1. A topic that is open to debate.
    • 1988, Ray Barr, 1,001 medical facts for every home, page 314:
      Just how many glaucoma patients there are in the United States and just how prevalent is the disease are two unknowns or at least two debatables.
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