Meanings
comparative more viable · superlative most viable
- Able to be done, possible, practicable, feasible.
a viable option
- Capable of working successfully
Barker believed that evidence was emerging that a "solid proportion" of operations were "grossly uneconomic", and that no amount of improvement in equipment would make them viable. He suggested that "while the superstructure of the report is correct, the foundations require radical re-examination".
2023 March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, number 978, page 42 - biologyAble to live and develop.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivecapable of being done with means at hand and circumstances as they are
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchviable
- Englishviable
Borrowed from French viable (further from Latin vīta), with semantic influence of Latin viābilis (“passable”).
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek βιώσιμος, βιώσιμος
- βιώσιμος (biṓsimos)able to live on its own
- βιώσιμος (biṓsimos)(biology) able to live and develop
Bulgarian жизнеспосо́бен, възмо́жен
- жизнеспосо́бен (žiznesposóben)able to live on its own
- възмо́жен (văzmóžen)possible
- осъществи́м (osăštestvím)possible
- жизнеспосо́бен (žiznesposóben)(biology) able to live and develop
Catalan viable, viable
- viableable to live on its own
- viablepossible
Czech životaschopný
- životaschopnýable to live on its own
Danish levedygtig
- levedygtigable to live on its own
Dutch levensvatbaar, uitvoerbaar
- levensvatbaarable to live on its own
- uitvoerbaarpossible
Esperanto vivipova, vivebla
- vivipovaable to live on its own
- viveblaable to live on its own
- fareblapossible
Estonian eluvõimeline, elujõuline
- eluvõimelineable to live on its own
- elujõulineable to live on its own
- elluviidavpossible
Finnish elinkelpoinen, mahdollinen
- elinkelpoinenable to live on its own
- mahdollinenpossible
French viable, viable
- viableable to live on its own
- viablepossible
German lebensfähig, machbar
- lebensfähigable to live on its own
- machbarpossible
- überlebensfähig(biology) able to live and develop
- lebensfähig(biology) able to live and develop
- entwicklungsfähig(biology) able to live and develop
Greek βιώσιμος, εφικτός
- βιώσιμος (viósimos)able to live on its own
- εφικτός (efiktós)possible
- πραγματοποιήσιμος (pragmatopoiísimos)possible
Hebrew בר־חיות, בר־קיימה
- בר־חיות (bar-khiyút)able to live on its own
- בר־קיימה (bar-kayamá)able to live on its own
- אפשרי (efsharí)possible
- בעל היתכנות (báal hitakhnút)possible
- בר־חיות (bar-khiyút)(biology) able to live and develop
Hungarian életképes, járható
- életképesable to live on its own
- járhatópossible
Italian vivibile, attuabile
- vivibileable to live on its own
- attuabilepossible
- fattibilepossible
- praticabilepossible
Japanese 生きられる, 生き残れる
- 生きられる (ikirareru)able to live on its own
- 生き残れる (ikinokoreru)able to live on its own
Portuguese viável, viável
- viávelable to live on its own
- viávelpossible
Russian жизнеспосо́бный, возмо́жный
- жизнеспосо́бный (žiznesposóbnyj)able to live on its own
- возмо́жный (vozmóžnyj)possible
- осуществи́мый (osuščestvímyj)possible
Spanish viable, viable
- viableable to live on its own
- viablepossible
- viable(biology) able to live and develop
Swedish livsduglig, genomförbar
- livsdugligable to live on its own
- genomförbarpossible
- gångbarpossible
Ukrainian життєзда́тний
- життєзда́тний (žyttjezdátnyj)able to live on its own
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with viable
All rhymes →Cite this entry
viable. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/viable
“viable.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/viable. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “viable,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/viable.
Source: viable on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.