debatable

English

Etymology

From Old French debatable (French débattable).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): [dɪˈbeɪtəbəɫ]

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

debatable (comparative more debatable, superlative most debatable)

1. Open to debate; not fully proved or confirmed.

   Those data are debatable: no one has been able to replicate them.

   It's debatable whether he is the best candidate for the position.

   • 2019 January 7, “Exploring the SCP Foundation: Pattern Screamers” (0:11 from the start), in The Exploring Series‎^[1], archived from the original on 11 January 2023:

     While the SCP universe is, of course, filled with things that we would certainly not consider "real", most of the SCPs are tangible or perceivable in some way. There are those concepts, however, whose reality is debatable, even to the SCP Foundation, begging them to ask the question of what, exactly, is real.

2. Able to be debated; up for discussion.

   The lack of bonuses this year is not debatable.

Derived terms

• debatableness
• debatably
• nondebatable
• undebatable
• undebatably

 

Translations

controversial

• Azerbaijani: mübahisəli
• Belarusian: спо́рны (spórny)
• Bulgarian: спо́рен (bg) (spóren), дискусио́нен (bg) (diskusiónen)
• Catalan: discutible
• Czech: diskutabilní (cs)
• Dutch: discutabel (nl), betwistbaar (nl)
• Finnish: kyseenalainen (fi), epävarma (fi)
• French: discutable (fr), débattable (fr)
• Galician: discutíbel (gl), discutible (gl)
• German: umstritten (de), fraglich (de), strittig (de)
• Greek: συζητήσιμος (el) (syzitísimos)
• Italian: discutibile (it), opinabile (it)
• Latin: contrōversus m
• Manx: yn-arganey
• Polish: sporny (pl)
• Portuguese: discutível, debatível
• Romanian: discutabil (ro)
• Russian: спо́рный (ru) (spórnyj), дискуссио́нный (ru) (diskussiónnyj)
• Slovak: diskutabilný (sk)
• Spanish: discutible (es)
• Ukrainian: спі́рний (spírnyj)
• Welsh: dadleuol (cy)

Noun

debatable (plural debatables)

1. A topic that is open to debate.
   • 1988, Ray Barr, 1,001 medical facts for every home, page 314:

     Just how many glaucoma patients there are in the United States and just how prevalent is the disease are two unknowns or at least two debatables.