tenable

Adjective

tenable (comparative more tenable, superlative most tenable)

1. (usually, argument) capable of being maintained or justified; well-founded
   • Back in the 1800s, many did not consider Darwin's theory of evolution to be tenable at all.
   • Modern war rests on industry, and its evolution has all but abolished the "non-combatant," emptied the old idea of "innocent" trade of meaning, and made even of neutrality a barely tenable status.1919, Henry Noel Brailsford, The Covenant of Peace: An Essay on the League of Nations, page 25

   Synonyms:

   defensible

2. Capable of being defended against assault or attack; defensible
   • The island of Melos undoubtedly fell within his general conceptions of tenable empire for Athens.1850, George Grote, A History of Greece; from the Earliest Period to the Close of the Generation Contemporary with Alexander the Great, volume 8
3. (formal) Fit for habitation, similar, or related use.
   • In February, 1679, he was admitted "a planter" of the town and a home lot was granted him "on condition that it should have a tenable house built upon it within two years.1679, Roberta Elizabeth Foote, The ancestors and descendants of Theodore Munroe Foote, published 1969, page 14
   • They made a day of straightening the leaning stable on its foundations and staying its framework, so that with new roof and sheathing, it would be a tenable building for many years to come.1923, Gene Stratton-Porter, The White Flag, page 387