debatable

D2E1B3A1T1A1B3L1E1
UK[dɪˈbeɪtəbəɫ]

adjective

Open to debate; not fully proved or confirmed.

“The lack of bonuses this year is not debatable.”

Less commonScrabble 14

Meanings

adjectivedebatable (comparative more debatable, superlative most debatable)

comparative more debatable · superlative most debatable · alternative debateable

  1. Open to debate; not fully proved or confirmed.

    Those data are debatable: no one has been able to replicate them.

    3 more examples

    It's debatable whether he is the best candidate for the position.

    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 January 7, “Exploring the SCP Foundation: Pattern Screamers” (0:11 from the start), in The Exploring Series, archived from the original on 11 Jan 2023

    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.

    2019 August 21, Zachary B. Wolf, “Trump is either trolling everyone or thinks he’s like a god”, in CNN
  2. Able to be debated; up for discussion.

    The lack of bonuses this year is not debatable.

noundebatable (plural debatables)

plural debatables · alternative debateable

  1. A topic that is open to debate.

    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.

    1988, Ray Barr, 1,001 medical facts for every home, page 314

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveopen to doubt or debate

adjectiveopen to argument or debate

adjectivecapable of being disproved

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Old Frenchdebatable
  2. Englishdebatable

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

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian спо́рен, дискусио́нен
  • спо́рен (spóren)controversial
  • дискусио́нен (diskusiónen)controversial
Catalan discutible
  • discutiblecontroversial
Chinese Mandarin 有爭議 /有争议
  • 有爭議 /有争议 (yǒuzhēngyì)controversial
Czech diskutabilní
  • diskutabilnícontroversial
Dutch discutabel, betwistbaar
  • discutabelcontroversial
  • betwistbaarcontroversial
Finnish kyseenalainen, epävarma
  • kyseenalainencontroversial
  • epävarmacontroversial
French discutable, débattable
  • discutablecontroversial
  • débattablecontroversial
German umstritten, fraglich
  • umstrittencontroversial
  • fraglichcontroversial
  • strittigcontroversial
Greek συζητήσιμος
  • συζητήσιμος (syzitísimos)controversial
Italian discutibile, opinabile
  • discutibilecontroversial
  • opinabilecontroversial
Latin contrōversus
  • contrōversuscontroversial
Polish sporny
  • spornycontroversial
Portuguese discutível, debatível
  • discutívelcontroversial
  • debatívelcontroversial
Romanian discutabil
  • discutabilcontroversial
Russian спо́рный, дискуссио́нный
  • спо́рный (spórnyj)controversial
  • дискуссио́нный (diskussiónnyj)controversial
Slovak diskutabilný
  • diskutabilnýcontroversial
Spanish debatible
  • debatiblecontroversial
Ukrainian спі́рний
  • спі́рний (spírnyj)controversial
Welsh dadleuol
  • dadleuolcontroversial
Cite this entry
APA

debatable. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/debatable

MLA

“debatable.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/debatable. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “debatable,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/debatable.

Source: debatable on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.