passably

[ pas-uh-blee, pah-suh- ]

adverb

1. fairly; moderately:

   a passably good novel.

passably

/ ˈpɑːsəblɪ /

adverb

1. fairly; somewhat
2. acceptably; well enough

   she sings passably

Word History and Origins

Origin of passably¹

First recorded in 1600–10; passable + -ly

Example Sentences

Also, it won’t hurt Goodyear’s sales of those tires if they look passably like the race tires, which wasn’t possible with the 15-inch tires.

From Popular-Science

The horseman, aka Abraham, is actually passably cute, with a rocking bod and apparently steady source of income.

From The Daily Beast

They both say that you are looking well, and I suppose I may conclude from that that you are feeling passably.

From Project Gutenberg

Aunt: “Camp generally becomes passably comfortable just as one nears the end of the trip.”

From Project Gutenberg

She was one of the servants of the inn, and, like most of her class, she was very inquisitive and passably wanton.

From Project Gutenberg

Jon saw the fixed object; it had dark eyes and passably dark hair, and changed its position, but never its shape.

From Project Gutenberg

It will take England a great while to get over her airs of patronage toward us, or even passably to conceal them.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• a bit
• a little
• comparatively
• fairly
• kind of
• pretty
• quite
• relatively
• slightly
• somewhat