Meanings
comparative more defensible · superlative most defensible
- usuallyCapable of being defended against armed attack.
Not only were those cities fortified, but their architects based their whole system on the strategical possibilities of the site, and closely followed its defensible contours.
1907, Ronald M. Burrows, The Discoveries In Crete, page 11Synonyms: defendable
- usuallyCapable of being justified.
Those who are most familiar with the working of the present society are also usually interested in the preservation of particular features of that society which may not be defensible on general principle.
1949, F. A. Hayek, “The Intellectuals and Socialism”, in University of Chicago Law Review, volume 16, number 3, Chicago: University of Chicago, →DOI, page 430
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveCapable of being defended against armed attack.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivecapable of being defended
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latindefensibilem
- Old Frenchdefensable
- Englishdefensible
From Old French defensable, from Latin defensibilem. Equivalent to defense + -ible.
More words from Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian защитим
- защитим (zaštitim)capable of being defended
Danish forsvarlig, som kan forsvares
- forsvarligcapable of being defended
- som kan forsvarescapable of being defended
- forsvarligcapable of being justified
- som kan forsvarescapable of being justified
Finnish puolustettavissa, perusteltavissa
- puolustettavissacapable of being defended
- perusteltavissacapable of being justified
- puolustettavissacapable of being justified
French défendable
- défendablecapable of being justified
Greek υπερασπίσιμος
- υπερασπίσιμος (yperaspísimos)capable of being defended
Italian sostenibile, difendibile
- sostenibilecapable of being defended
- difendibilecapable of being defended
- tenibilecapable of being defended
- difendibilecapable of being justified
- sostenibilecapable of being justified
- tenibilecapable of being justified
Norwegian Bokmål forsvarlig
- forsvarligcapable of being justified
Polish możliwy do obrony, uzasadniony
- możliwy do obronycapable of being defended
- uzasadnionycapable of being justified
Portuguese defensável, defensável
- defensávelcapable of being defended
- defensávelcapable of being justified
Spanish defendible, sostenible
- defendiblecapable of being defended
- sosteniblecapable of being justified
Cite this entry
defensible. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defensible
“defensible.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defensible. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “defensible,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defensible.
Source: defensible on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.