acceptable

English

Alternative forms

• acceptible (dated)

Etymology

From Middle English acceptable, from Old French acceptable, from Late Latin acceptābilis (“worthy of acceptance”).

Morphologically accept +‎ -able.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ək.ˈsɛp.tə.bəl/, /æk.ˈsɛp.tə.bəl/, /ɪk.ˈsɛp.tə.bəl/
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /ˈæksɛp.tə.bəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

acceptable (comparative more acceptable, superlative most acceptable)

1. worthy, decent, sure of being accepted or received with at least moderate pleasure

   We need to find an acceptable present for Jeff.

2. Barely worthy, less than excellent; passable.

   The designs were acceptable, but they were nothing special either.

Synonyms

• (worthy): See Thesaurus:good
• (passable): See Thesaurus:satisfactory

Antonyms

• unacceptable
• inacceptable

Derived terms

• acceptableness
• acceptably
• inacceptably
• nonacceptable

 

Related terms

• acceptability

Translations

capable, worthy or sure of being accepted

• Armenian: ընդունելի (hy) (ənduneli)
• Azerbaijani: məqbul, qəbul edilə bilən, münasib
• Belarusian: прыма́льны m (prymálʹny)
• Bulgarian: приемлив (bg) (priemliv), допустим (bg) (dopustim)
• Catalan: acceptable (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 可接受的 (kě jiēshòu de)

• Cornish: kemeradow
• Czech: přijatelný (cs) m
• Dutch: aanvaardbaar (nl), acceptabel (nl)
• Esperanto: akceptebla, akceptinda
• Estonian: vastuvõetav
• Finnish: hyväksyttävä (fi)
• French: acceptable (fr) m or f, admissible (fr) m or f
• Galician: aceptable (gl)
• German: annehmbar (de), akzeptabel (de)
• Gothic: 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌽𐌴𐌼𐍃 (andanēms)
• Greek: παραδεκτός (el) (paradektós), δεκτός (el) (dektós), αποδεκτός (el) (apodektós)

  Ancient: παραδεκτός (paradektós), ἀπόδεκτος (apódektos)

• Hungarian: elfogadható (hu)
• Icelandic: ásættanlegur (is)
• Interlingua: acceptabile
• Italian: accettabile (it)
• Latin: acceptus
• Malayalam: സ്വീകാര്യമായ (svīkāryamāya)
• Marathi: स्वीकार्य (svīkārya)
• Norwegian: antakelig
• Polish: akceptowalny (pl), dopuszczalny (pl)
• Portuguese: aceitável (pt)
• Romanian: acceptabil (ro)
• Russian: прие́млемый (ru) (prijémlemyj)
• Spanish: aceptable (es), asumible
• Swedish: acceptabel (sv), godtagbar (sv), tacknämlig (sv)
• Tagalog: katanggap-tanggap
• Telugu: అంగీకార యోగ్యమైన (aṅgīkāra yōgyamaina)
• Turkish: kabul edilebilir, uygun (tr), makbul (tr)
• Ukrainian: прийня́тний (pryjnjátnyj)
• Welsh: cymeradwy (cy), derbyniol (cy)

Further reading

• “acceptable”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “acceptable”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “acceptable”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin acceptābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ək.səpˈtab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [ak.sepˈta.ble]
• Rhymes: -ablə, -able

Adjective

acceptable m or f (masculine and feminine plural acceptables)

1. acceptable

   Antonym: inacceptable

Derived terms

• acceptablement
• inacceptable

Further reading

• “acceptable” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “acceptable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “acceptable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “acceptable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Danish

Adjective

acceptable

1. definite singular of acceptabel
2. plural of acceptabel

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin acceptābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ak.sɛp.tabl/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

acceptable (plural acceptables)

1. acceptable

   Antonym: inacceptable

Related terms

• accepter

Further reading

• “acceptable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Swedish

Adjective

acceptable

1. definite natural masculine singular of acceptabel

Anagrams

• acceptabel