capable

[key-puh-buhl]

adjective

1. having power and ability; efficient; competent.

   a capable instructor.

   Synonyms: accomplished, ingenious, skillful

capable

/ ˈkeɪpəbəl /

adjective

1. having ability, esp in many different fields; competent

2. able or having the skill (to do something)

   she is capable of hard work

3. having the temperament or inclination (to do something)

   he seemed capable of murder

Other Word Forms

• capableness noun
• capably adverb
• overcapable adjective
• quasi-capable adjective
• quasi-capably adverb
• supercapable adjective
• supercapableness noun
• supercapably adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of capable¹

First recorded in 1555–65; from Late Latin capābilis “intelligent, understandable,” apparently equivalent to cap(āx) “competent, fit, roomy” ( capacity ) + -ābilis able

Word History and Origins

Origin of capable¹

C16: from French, from Late Latin capābilis able to take in, from Latin capere to take

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. capable of,

   1. having the ability or capacity for.

      a man capable of judging art.

   2. open to the influence or effect of; susceptible of.

      a situation capable of improvement.

   3. predisposed to; inclined to.

      capable of murder.

Synonym Study

See able.

Example Sentences

This should be understood as a requirement that the PA be capable of restraining Hamas and wanted by the people of Gaza—it isn’t currently—rather than parachuted in and imposed on them.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

They can be minor, covering roads and driveways with muck, or large and destructive, capable of moving cars at speeds of up to 35 mph and pummeling homes with boulders and a wall of mud.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

For now, the company uses Model Y SUVs overseen by a safety monitor who is capable of intervening if necessary.

Read more on MarketWatch

He wants the militant group to keep its weapons so that it remains capable of standing up to Israel “until rights are restored to their owners and Palestine is recognised as a land.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Rosatom has the only facility in the world -- at Seversk in Siberia -- capable of carrying out key parts of the conversion of reprocessed uranium to enriched reprocessed uranium.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• able 
• accomplished 
• adept 
• adequate 
• competent 
• efficient 
• experienced 
• gifted 
• good 
• intelligent 
• proficient 
• qualified 
• skillful 
• suited 
• talented