Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Capable of being spoken; fit to be uttered.
  • Having the power of speech.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Capable of being spoken; fit to be spoken.
  • adjective Able to speak.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective That can be spoken; utterable, verbalizable.
  • adjective Acceptable as a topic of discussion; not subject to taboo.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective capable of being uttered in words or sentences

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

speak +‎ -able

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Examples

  • "speakable" equivalent - "Death, despair, division of families, all entanglements of mankind grow" - as a different list, with "age" itself elided into a single allusion that takes its modest place in the next rhyming line, "As that old wandering beggar and these God-hated children know".

    Top stories from Times Online 2010

  • But Mr. Ives is a major playwright with an uncanny knack for versification, and it seems more than likely that many regional companies that have heretofore shied away from the formidable demands of "The Misanthrope," even in so easily speakable a rendering as that of Mr. Wilbur, will now decide to take a shot at mounting Mr. Ives's streamlined version.

    Flying Couplets and Canapés Terry Teachout 2011

  • It's an impeccably theatrical piece of work that is both beautifully speakable and more poetic than Paul Schmidt's now-standard version.

    The End Of the Line Terry Teachout 2011

  • Although it may not matter who is sleeping with whom in the celebrity world, several other current events do require the truth, such as the reasons why the government has not taken a more aggressive stance regarding the recent oil spill, or why barely speakable crimes of humanity are allowed to occur in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    Tamara McClintock Greenberg: Truth vs. 'Truthiness': The Price We Pay for Ignoring Reality 2010

  • Although it may not matter who is sleeping with whom in the celebrity world, several other current events do require the truth, such as the reasons why the government has not taken a more aggressive stance regarding the recent oil spill, or why barely speakable crimes of humanity are allowed to occur in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    Tamara McClintock Greenberg: Truth vs. 'Truthiness': The Price We Pay for Ignoring Reality 2010

  • Warren would change the lines, and Rossen felt that he was screwing with his script—he wrote it—although Warren was just doing what most actors do, make the lines speakable.

    STAR PETER BISKIND 2010

  • Mr. FRANZEN: Walter is a portrait in the displacement of unspeakable rage about what's going on in his family through speakable rage about what's going on in this country.

    Jonathan Franzen Takes The Long Road To 'Freedom' 2010

  • Mr. FRANZEN: Walter is a portrait in the displacement of unspeakable rage about what's going on in his family through speakable rage about what's going on in this country.

    Jonathan Franzen Takes The Long Road To 'Freedom' 2010

  • Comments in art, everything must be fair game, everything must be explorable, everything must be speakable, or we go BACKWARDS! we go DOWN!

    Holly Cara Price: Weekend Horoscoop* for May 8-10, 2009 ~ feliz d��a de la madre edition 2009

  • A number of commands, or “speakable items,” are already created for you.

    KN | Kitsune Noir » Why Can’t We Talk To Our Computers? 2009

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