Meanings
comparative more understandable · superlative most understandable
- Capable of being understood; comprehensible.
Synonyms: apprehensible · Antonyms: incomprehensible, unfathomable
- Capable of being accepted or excused under the circumstances; permissible.
1 more example
The original branch was 5¾ miles long, from Llantrisant to Cowbridge only, but in 1889, the T.V.R. [Taff Vale Railway] obtained powers […] to continue the line for 6½ miles south to the coast at Aberthaw, ostensibly for the purpose of serving the important limestone works there, but one suspects other motives, including an understandable desire on the part of the T.V.R. to put a spoke in the wheel of the oncoming Barry Railway !
1951 December, T. B. Sands, “Some Railway Byways in the Vale of Glamorgan”, in Railway Magazine, page 838Synonyms: acceptable, excusable · Antonyms: inexcusable, out of bounds, unacceptable
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveCapable of being understood; comprehensible.
adjectiveCapable of being accepted or excused under the circumstances; permissible.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivecapable of being apprehended or understood
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishunderstondable
- Englishunderstandable
From Middle English understondable, equivalent to understand + -able.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مَفْهُوم
- مَفْهُوم (mafhūm)capable of being understood
Bulgarian разбира́ем
- разбира́ем (razbiráem)capable of being understood
Catalan comprensible, comprensible
- comprensiblecapable of being understood
- comprensiblecapable of being accepted or excused
Chinese Mandarin 可懂的, 可以理解的
- 可懂的 (kědǒng de)capable of being understood
- 可以理解的 (kěyǐ lǐjiě de)capable of being understood
Czech pochopitelný, srozumitelný
- pochopitelnýcapable of being understood
- srozumitelnýcapable of being understood
Danish forståelig, begribelig
- forståeligcapable of being understood
- begribeligcapable of being understood
Dutch begrijpelijk
- begrijpelijkcapable of being understood
Esperanto komprenebla
- kompreneblacapable of being understood
Finnish ymmärrettävä, ymmärrettävä
- ymmärrettäväcapable of being understood
- ymmärrettäväcapable of being accepted or excused
French compréhensible, comprenable
- compréhensiblecapable of being understood
- comprenablecapable of being understood
German verständlich, begreifbar
- verständlichcapable of being understood
- begreifbarcapable of being understood
- verständlichcapable of being accepted or excused
Hungarian érthető, érthető
- érthetőcapable of being understood
- érthetőcapable of being accepted or excused
- méltányolhatócapable of being accepted or excused
- elfogadhatócapable of being accepted or excused
- tekintetbe vehetőcapable of being accepted or excused
- elnézhetőcapable of being accepted or excused
- megbocsáthatócapable of being accepted or excused
Icelandic skiljanlegur, skilmerkilegur
- skiljanlegurcapable of being understood
- skilmerkilegurcapable of being understood
Irish sothuigthe, intuigthe
- sothuigthecapable of being understood
- intuigthecapable of being understood
Italian comprensibile, perdonabile
- comprensibilecapable of being understood
- perdonabilecapable of being accepted or excused
- comprensibilecapable of being accepted or excused
Japanese 理解できる
- 理解できる (rikai dekiru)capable of being understood
Korean 이해할 수 있다
- 이해할 수 있다 (ihaehal su itda)capable of being understood
Norwegian Bokmål forståelig, begripelig
- forståeligcapable of being understood
- begripeligcapable of being understood
- lettfatteligcapable of being understood
- forståeligcapable of being accepted or excused
- tilgiveligcapable of being accepted or excused
Polish zrozumiały
- zrozumiałycapable of being understood
Portuguese compreensível, entendível
- compreensívelcapable of being understood
- entendívelcapable of being understood
- compreensívelcapable of being accepted or excused
Romanian de înțeles
- de înțelescapable of being understood
Russian поня́тный, прие́млемый
- поня́тный (ponjátnyj)capable of being understood
- прие́млемый (prijémlemyj)capable of being accepted or excused
Slovak pochopiteľný, zrozumiteľný
- pochopiteľnýcapable of being understood
- zrozumiteľnýcapable of being understood
Spanish entendible
- entendiblecapable of being understood
Swedish förståelig, förståelig
- förståeligcapable of being understood
- förståeligcapable of being accepted or excused
Turkish anlaşılabilir, kavranabilir
- anlaşılabilircapable of being understood
- kavranabilircapable of being understood
- kavranılabilircapable of being understood
Ukrainian зрозумі́лий
- зрозумі́лий (zrozumílyj)capable of being understood
Cite this entry
understandable. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/understandable
“understandable.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/understandable. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “understandable,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/understandable.
Source: understandable on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.