practicable

• practiceable
• practisable, practiseable (rare)

Borrowed from Latin prācticābilis, partly modelled on Middle French praticable.^[1] By surface analysis, practice (verb) +‎ -able.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɹæktɪkəbəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

practicable (not comparable)

1. Capable of being accomplished; feasible.
   • 1949, F. A. Hayek, “The Intellectuals and Socialism”, in University of Chicago Law Review, volume 16, number 3, Chicago: University of Chicago, →DOI, page 433:

     Those who have concerned themselves exclusively with what seemed practicable in the existing state of opinion have constantly found that even this has rapidly become politically impossible as the result of changes in a public opinion which they have done nothing to guide.

   • 1986, Fred Matheny, Solo Cycling: How to Train and Race Bicycle Time Trials, page 136:

     The law in most states says that cyclists must ride as far to the right as is practicable.

   • 2010 September 13, Publishers Weekly, Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel's War Against the Palestinians‎^[1]:

     This sober and unflinching analysis should be read and reckoned with by anyone concerned with practicable change in the long-suffering region.

   • 2023 May 4, Jack Bantock, “Tee-k Tock: The ‘appalling’ slow play controversy riling golf’s biggest stars”, in CNN‎^[2]:

     “The player should usually be able to play more quickly than that and is encouraged to do so,” the guidelines state, with golfers that exceed 40 seconds – AKA “bad time” – “informed as soon as practicable” by a tournament official.

   • 2025 January 21, Christian Edwards, “What is the World Health Organization and why does Trump want to leave it?”, in CNN‎^[3]:

     Monday’s executive order called on the secretary of state and director of the Office of Management and Budget to pause funding “with all practicable speed.”

2. Serving a useful function; useful, functional or handy.
3. Available for use; accessible or employable.
   • 1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:

     I glanced up, — there was no trap door which led to the roof. No practicable nook or cranny, in which a living being could lie concealed, was anywhere at hand.

Example of use contrasted with practical:

• "While others might agree that it was practical to rewrite the entire section, it was not truly practicable given other considerations."

• (capable of being accomplished): feasible, workable
• usable

• impracticable

• practicability
• practicableness
• practicably

• practical

From practicar +‎ -able.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [pɾək.tiˈkab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [pɾak.tiˈka.ble]

practicable m or f (masculine and feminine plural practicables)

1. practicable, feasible

   Antonym: impracticable

• impracticable

• “practicable”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “practicable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “practicable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “practicable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From practicar +‎ -able.

• IPA^(key): /pɾaɡtiˈkable/ [pɾaɣ̞.t̪iˈka.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: prac‧ti‧ca‧ble

practicable m or f (masculine and feminine plural practicables)

1. practicable, feasible

   Antonym: impracticable

• “practicable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024