papabile

Borrowed from Italian papabile.

• IPA^(key): /pəˈpɑːbɪleɪ/

papabile (comparative more papabile, superlative most papabile)

1. Thought to be among those likely to be elected pope.
   • 2001 February 20, May Ying Welsh, “Latin Cardinals hint at Church's future”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     Vatican watchers have already anointed the Honduran prelate papabile or “popeable.”

   • 2025 March 8, Christopher Lamb, “High anxiety and whispers of a conclave: How the Vatican is dealing with Pope Francis’ hospitalization”, in CNN‎^[2]:

     All of this is creating a pre-conclave atmosphere. Vatican observers watch to see how each cardinal deputizing for the pope acts, and whether they are papabile (literally “pope-able,” or a potential candidate to be pope).

   • 2025 April 21, Sam Clancy, Andrew Weil, “Former St. Louis archbishop Burke among 'popeable' candidates after Francis' death”, in KSDK‎^[3]:

     In 2020, Edward Pentin, the senior Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Register, released a book on the topic, titled "The Next Pope: The Leading Cardinal Candidates." In the book, Pentin listed 19 cardinals he considered to be papabile, or "popeable" frontrunners.

papabile (plural papabiles or papabili)

1. A cardinal among those likely to be elected pope.

From papa (“pope”) +‎ -abile (“-able”).

• IPA^(key): /paˈpa.bi.le/
• Rhymes: -abile
• Hyphenation: pa‧pà‧bi‧le

papabile m or f (plural papabili)

1. Likely to be elected Pope.
2. (by extension) Likely to be elected or nominated [with a or per ‘for/as a position/title’].

   Warren, da molti ritenuta papabile per la vicepresidenza, si è ritirata dalla corsa

   Warren, whom many thought likely to be nominated for the vice-presidency, withdrew from the race

papabile m or f by sense (plural papabili)

1. A cardinal thought likely to be elected Pope.
2. (by extension) A person likely to be elected or nominated to an office, job position, etc.

• papabile in garzantilinguistica.it – Garzanti Linguistica, De Agostini Scuola Spa

papabile

1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of papabilis