manageable
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- manageability noun
- manageableness noun
- manageably adverb
- unmanageability noun
- unmanageable adjective
- unmanageableness noun
- unmanageably adverb
Etymology
Origin of manageable
Explanation
If you can handle something, it's manageable. An overworked college student might decide to drop a horrible chemistry class to make the semester more manageable. Anything that you can accomplish can be described with the adjective manageable. It's also used in a slightly different way, to talk about something that can be controlled, like a tamed lion or a smooth and tidy head of hair. The earliest use of the root word "manage" related specifically to controlling a horse, influenced by the French word for "horsemanship," manège.
Vocabulary lists containing manageable
The Miracle Worker
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Outcasts United
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"For Black Girls Like Me" by Mariama J. Lockington, Part III
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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.
“Declining birth rates inevitably mean declining enrollment. The size of the decline should be manageable — but only if schools adjust their plans now, rather than wait.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026
The board said its decisions were "solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk was manageable in the community".
From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026
What’s Next: Madison Air will use the IPO proceeds to reduce its $5.7 billion debt to a more manageable $3.5 billion.
From Barron's • Apr. 16, 2026
“At this point, we assume a headwind to consumption, inflation and Fed rate considerations, probably manageable so long as the current cease-fire trends to a wind down of hostilities over the next several weeks.”
From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026
NYU might have been manageable for their friendship, but Washington Heights was basically Canada, as far as Boaz was concerned.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
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.
