capable
Syllables: ca·pa·bleUK/ˈkeɪ.pə.bəl/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
nonstandard/ˈkeɪ.bə.bəl/
capable adjective: able and efficient; having the ability needed for a specific task; having the disposition to do something; permitting or being susceptible to something.
Adjective
capable (comparative more capable, superlative most capable)
- Able and efficient; having the ability needed for a specific task; having the disposition to do something; permitting or being susceptible to something.
- She is capable and efficient.
- He does not need help; he is capable of eating on his own.
- Of sufficient capacity or size for holding, containing, receiving or taking in; accessible to. Construed with of, for or an infinitive.
- The place chosen was the cathedral church, capable of about 400 persons.1672, Lord Herbert, The Life and Reign of King Henry the Eighth, page 594
- [...] deſignation only to thoſe things, which have parts, and are capable of increaſe or diminution [...]1695, John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, page 108
capable meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
capable in Hindi
- able and efficient
- सक्षम sakṣam
capable in Tamil
- ஆற்றலுடைய, தகுதி பெற்ற, தகுதி வாய்ந்த, திறனுடைய, திறன் வாய்ந்த, திறமை வாய்ந்த
capable in Marathi
- able and efficient
- सक्षम sakṣam
capable in Urdu
- able and efficient
- قابل
More languagesFewer languages
- capable in Bengali
- সক্ষম sôkshôm
- capable in Malayalam
- കഴിവുള്ള kaḻivuḷḷa
- capable in Kannada
- ಅಳವುಳ್ಳ, ಮಾಡಬಲ್ಲ, ತಕ್ಕ, ಯೋಗ್ಯ
- capable in Punjabi
- جوگا jogā, ਜੋਗਾ jogā, ਲਾਇਕ਼ lāiaq
- capable in Odia
- ଦକ୍ଷିଣ dakṣiṇa
- capable in Arabic
- قَادِر qādir
- capable in Myanmar
- စွမ်း cwam:
Examples of capable in a sentence
- As everyone knew, he was capable of violence when roused.
- That fact is not capable of proof.
- They are neither capable of forming to themſelves a Rule, nor of diſcovering a Law-giver, nor of having the Rule enforc’d on them by the Proſpect of future Good or Ill.1732, John Conybeare, A Defence of Reveal'd Religion Against the Exceptions of a Late Writer, in His Book, Intituled, Christianity as Old...
- Nevertheless, we continue to experience the problems of this level of reading, no matter how capable we may be as readers.1972, Mortimer J. Adler, Charles Van Doren, How to Read a Book, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 17:
- Again, I farther obſerve, that as man is a compound being, ſo this renders him capable of ſeveral diſtinct kinds of pleaſure [...]1754, Thomas Chubb, A Collection of Tracts on Various Subjects, volume 2, page 43:
- He has begun a road capable of a wheel-carriage.1775, Samuel Johnson, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (Works 10.479), page 304:
Antonyms of capable
Forms of capable
| comparative | more capable |
|---|---|
| superlative | most capable |
Origin of capable
Borrowed from Middle French capable, from Late Latin capābilis.
Words formed from capable
Questions about capable
- What does capable mean?
- Capable means able and efficient; having the ability needed for a specific task; having the disposition to do something; permitting or being susceptible to something.
- What is capable in Hindi?
- Capable in Hindi is सक्षम (sakṣam). See Capable meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use capable in a sentence?
- As everyone knew, he was capable of violence when roused.
- What part of speech is capable?
- Capable is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce capable?
- Capable is pronounced /ˈkeɪ.pə.bəl/ (UK).
Words near capable in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: capable (page history and authors); capable (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); കഴിവുള്ള (Malayalam) (page history and authors); capable (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); جوگا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); ଦକ୍ଷିଣ (Odia) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-capable.ogg.
Cite this entry: “capable.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/capable. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.