understandable
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
- nonunderstandable adjective
- understandability noun
- understandably adverb
- ununderstandable adjective
Etymology
Origin of understandable
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English: originally, “capable of understanding”; understand + -able
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There’s a lot of anger on the show — often, the very understandable result of the situations the characters find themselves in.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026
That was understandable given how bereft the home fans would have been after the Bosnia defeat.
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026
Despite the age gap, the off-kilter attraction between Dianne and Sam is understandable, given how unhappy both of them are with their stuck lives.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
It’s understandable that CF’s stock surged after the start of the conflict, because the company is a “pure-play” nitrogen producer, and farmers have no option but to use nitrogen if planting corn, Rodriguez wrote.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 18, 2026
This means, as Stephen Hawking has observed with a touch of understandable excitement, that one cannot "predict future events exactly if one cannot even measure the present state of the universe precisely!"
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
