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IELTS BNC: 18890 COCA: 26987

tenable

adjective

ten·​a·​ble ˈte-nə-bəl How to pronounce tenable (audio)
: capable of being held, maintained, or defended : defensible, reasonable
tenability noun
tenableness noun
tenably adverb

Did you know?

Hold Onto the Meaning of Tenable

Tenable means "holdable". In the past it was often used in a physical sense—for example, to refer to a city that an army was trying to "hold" militarily against an enemy force. But nowadays it's almost always used when speaking of "held" ideas and theories. If you hold an opinion but evidence appears that completely contradicts it, your opinion is no longer tenable. So, for example, the old ideas that cancer is infectious or that being bled by leeches can cure your whooping cough now seem untenable.

Example Sentences

the soldiers' encampment on the open plain was not tenable, so they retreated to higher ground the tenable theory that a giant meteor strike set off a chain of events resulting in the demise of the dinosaurs
Recent Examples on the Web The decades-old biases against technospheres, including the giggle-factor tying them to little green men and UFO conspiracies, are no longer tenable. Adam Frank, The Atlantic, 12 Sep. 2022 For the dirtbag, hygiene is optional, dumbassery is frequent, and a gritty kind of enlightenment might just be tenable. Adrienne Matei, The Atlantic, 26 July 2022 Five Star’s refusal to support the government was enough to convince Draghi that the coalition was no longer tenable. Jason Horowitz, BostonGlobe.com, 14 July 2022 These types of opportunities are inexpensive compared to overall sponsorship, but a more tenable solution for smaller brands. Andrew Faridani, Forbes, 30 June 2022 Is carbon capture a tenable solution to fight climate change? Jennifer Hiller, WSJ, 7 Feb. 2022 After the Holocaust, indulging the unconscious no longer seemed tenable. Washington Post, 9 Nov. 2021 This reluctance to change won’t be tenable for long. Kathy Leake, Forbes, 3 June 2022 And the old-fashioned solution—asking the grandparents to step in as caregivers—is only tenable for about 20% of working mothers, according to a 2013 study. Abby Vesoulis, Time, 7 Apr. 2022 See More

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French, going back to Old French, "capable of being defended against attack," from tenir "to hold, have possession of" + -able -able — more at tenant entry 1

First Known Use

1579, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of tenable was in 1579

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