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debatable

UK[dɪˈbeɪtəbəɫ]
adjectiveB2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #10,863 of 15,258neutral

Debatable means open to argument either way. A debatable point, highly debatable, that is debatable.

Saying that something is debatable is a polite way of disagreeing without stating your own case, which is why it appears so often in reviews and reports. Debatable land was the historical name for the disputed ground on the Anglo-Scottish border. Note debate; and that the Latin behind it means to beat down.

Definitions of debatable

  1. 1adjectivedebatableOpen to argument either way.B2+

    “Whether the new law will actually reduce crime is debatable.”

    synonyms: arguable, disputable

debatable is a quality of being arguable.

Where it comes from

Old French debatable comes from debatre, to fight out — de plus battre, to beat. Battle and abate come from the same beating.

  1. Old French

    debatable

  2. English, today

    debatable

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

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Word Building

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debatable in the wild

  • The Debatable Lands, also known as debatable ground, batable ground or threip lands, lay between Scotland and England.

    Debatable Lands

  • However, this genre is debatable as Bisrock seems to be popular only in Cebu.

    Bisrock

  • Except for a request to be excused from a duty, these requests and inquiries are not debatable nor amendable.

    Requests and inquiries

  • The exact reason for the crash is debatable, but it involved Steve Bauer and Claude Criquielion.

    1988 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

  • debate