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palpable

UK/ˈpælpəbəl/US/ˈpælpəbəl/
adjectiveC1Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #11,202 of 15,258neutral

Palpable means so strong it can almost be touched. A palpable silence, palpable relief, palpable tension.

It belongs to atmosphere above all, and the point is that the feeling has become physical. In medicine it keeps its literal meaning: a palpable mass is one a doctor can feel with the fingers.

Definitions of palpable

  1. 1adjectivepalpableSo strong it can almost be touched.C1

    “The tension in the room was palpable as we waited for the results.”

palpable is a quality.

Where it comes from

Latin palpabilis comes from palpare, to touch or stroke.

  1. Latin

    palpābilis

  2. Middle French

    palpable

  3. English, today

    palpable

From Middle French palpable and its source, Latin palpābilis, which is from palpō + -bilis.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

palpable in the wild

  • Nonetheless, some things are not palpable, which is why additional medical tests, such as medical imaging and laboratory tests, are often needed to make a diagnosis.

    Palpation

  • The sternal angle is palpable and often visible in young people.

    Sternal angle

  • In adults, healthy lymph nodes can be palpable (able to be felt), in the axilla, neck and groin.

    Cervical lymphadenopathy

  • In children up to the age of 12 cervical nodes up to 1 cm in size may be palpable and this may not signify any disease.

    Cervical lymphadenopathy

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.