Debatable
/dɪˈbeɪtəbl/adjective
Something that is not settled and people have different views about it.
Whether this old painting is an authentic is highly debatable.
Often appears as...
- highly debatable
- somewhat debatable
adjective
Something that could be doubted or disputed.
The economic benefits of this project are debatable.
Often appears as...
- fairly debatable
- truly debatable
adjective
Something that is open to question or debate.
It's debatable whether he will be able to finish his project on time.
Often appears as...
- it's debatable
- somewhat debatable
adjective
Something that is not settled and people have different views about it.
Whether this old painting is an authentic is highly debatable.
Often appears as...
- highly debatable
- somewhat debatable
adjective
Something that could be doubted or disputed.
The economic benefits of this project are debatable.
Often appears as...
- fairly debatable
- truly debatable
adjective
Something that is open to question or debate.
It's debatable whether he will be able to finish his project on time.
Often appears as...
- it's debatable
- somewhat debatable
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Expressing Doubt
Use 'debatable' when you want to express doubt about a commonly accepted idea or fact.
The necessity of homework in learning new material is debatable.
Pro Tip 2/3Caution in Agreement
Insert 'debatable' to gently disagree or show you're not fully convinced.
Your point is debatable, but I see where you're coming from.
Pro Tip 3/3Conversation Starter
Spark discussions by labeling a topic as debatable to invite different viewpoints.
Is climate change the most pressing issue of our time? That's debatable.
Compare with
ambiguousarguablecertaincontroversialdisputedoubtfuldubiousquestionableup in the air
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Video examples
Juliet Eilperin: Demon...
are really being killed each year and and accidentally as bycatch but that said there's also the intentional fishing of sharks which certainly well you know again it's it's it's I think it's very interesting that it's really debatable whether accidental fishing of sharks or intentional fishing is is a
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 348 PIPE...
or not he knows it's his daughter as obviously debatable the essentially yes and the reason why is because all the time and she's been alive she leaves a chemical signature behind which essentially will basically sting Ghana will know that signature he's bumped into her periodically through her life
Video examples
Jimmy Wales: How a...
So there's a few elements, mostly social policies and some elements of the software. So the biggest and the most important thing is our neutral point of view policy. This is something that I set down, from the very beginning, as a core principle of the community that's completely not debatable.
Video examples
Why should you read...
and from Dante to Dublin slang. As suggested by the title, some of these allusions revolve around Homer's "Odyssey." Each chapter is named after a character or episode from the "Odyssey," but the literary references are often coy, debatable, sarcastic, or disguised.
Video examples
Are we sexual omnivores?...
is very debatable. But that's just an example. Certainly, you know, lots of people say to me, just because we lived a certain way in the past doesn't mean we should live that way now, and I agree with that. Everyone has to respond to the modern world.
Video examples
An artist's unflinching...
from tourist shops and flea markets around the world. The authenticity and origin of them is completely debatable, but people believe these to be imbued with power, or even magic. Only recently have I figured out how to use this in my own work.
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 162 PIPE...
niala and couldn't Impala and the baby zebra or whether they're still the same area it's debatable they might have moved off hearing him call would have given away his position and definitely put them on alert so we are we have
Video examples
Solomon Goldstein-Rose:...
The third reason is a bit more debatable, but it needs to be talked about more in public discourse. It has to do with the fact that not everything can be electrified by 2050. Long-range airplanes, for instance,
Video examples
This ancient rock is...
by three billion years. And so, from a geological perspective, Darwin's warm little pond is a reasonable origin-of-life candidate. Of course, it's still debatable how life began on Earth,
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 76 PIPE...
wondering if it's at all unusual for males to share the kill well that that's that's what is debatable I'm wondering if it wasn't these females that actually
Video examples
Juliet Eilperin: Demon...
are really being killed each year and and accidentally as bycatch but that said there's also the intentional fishing of sharks which certainly well you know again it's it's it's I think it's very interesting that it's really debatable whether accidental fishing of sharks or intentional fishing is is a
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 348 PIPE...
or not he knows it's his daughter as obviously debatable the essentially yes and the reason why is because all the time and she's been alive she leaves a chemical signature behind which essentially will basically sting Ghana will know that signature he's bumped into her periodically through her life
Video examples
Jimmy Wales: How a...
So there's a few elements, mostly social policies and some elements of the software. So the biggest and the most important thing is our neutral point of view policy. This is something that I set down, from the very beginning, as a core principle of the community that's completely not debatable.
Video examples
Why should you read...
and from Dante to Dublin slang. As suggested by the title, some of these allusions revolve around Homer's "Odyssey." Each chapter is named after a character or episode from the "Odyssey," but the literary references are often coy, debatable, sarcastic, or disguised.
Video examples
Are we sexual omnivores?...
is very debatable. But that's just an example. Certainly, you know, lots of people say to me, just because we lived a certain way in the past doesn't mean we should live that way now, and I agree with that. Everyone has to respond to the modern world.
Video examples
An artist's unflinching...
from tourist shops and flea markets around the world. The authenticity and origin of them is completely debatable, but people believe these to be imbued with power, or even magic. Only recently have I figured out how to use this in my own work.
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 162 PIPE...
niala and couldn't Impala and the baby zebra or whether they're still the same area it's debatable they might have moved off hearing him call would have given away his position and definitely put them on alert so we are we have
Video examples
Solomon Goldstein-Rose:...
The third reason is a bit more debatable, but it needs to be talked about more in public discourse. It has to do with the fact that not everything can be electrified by 2050. Long-range airplanes, for instance,
Video examples
This ancient rock is...
by three billion years. And so, from a geological perspective, Darwin's warm little pond is a reasonable origin-of-life candidate. Of course, it's still debatable how life began on Earth,
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 76 PIPE...
wondering if it's at all unusual for males to share the kill well that that's that's what is debatable I'm wondering if it wasn't these females that actually
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Dan Crenshaw
American Politician
We actually all care about the environment, and most people believe in climate change and believe that mankind has something to do with that - how much is scientifically debatable, but there is some effect and we all have an interest in reducing carbon emissions, just having cleaner air, cleaner oceans. It's something we can get behind.
Quote examples
Adam Curtis
British Director
So much of the language that surrounds us - from things like economics, management theory, and the algorithms built into computer systems - appears to be objective and neutral. But in fact, it is loaded with powerful, and very debatable, political assumptions about how society should work and what human beings are really like.
Quote examples
George Saintsbury
English Writer
To pass to the deluge, and beyond it, and to come to close quarters with our proper division, the origin of Romance itself is a very debatable subject, or rather it is a subject which the wiser mind will hardly care to debate much.
Quote examples
Henry Spencer
Canadian Scientist
Whether solid rockets are more or less likely to fail than liquid-fuel rockets is debatable. More serious, though, is that when they do fail, it's usually violent and spectacular.
Quote examples
Bainbridge Colby
American Public Servant
That does not mean that we must forego just and fair criticism, or refrain from opposition to policies which are debatable or which do not command our approval.
Quote examples
Mary Elizabeth Winstead
American Actor
Obviously, we're all going to die at some point. Whether or not we are fated to die in some way I think is debatable. I just don't know which side to debate.
Quote examples
Bobby Charlton
English Athlete
It was a fair decision, the penalty, even though it was debatable whether it was inside or outside the box.
Quote examples
Thomas Griffith
American Editor
Anderson's muckraking is one of debatable ends constantly used to justify questionable works.
Quote examples
Brett Kavanaugh
American Judge
Whether the Constitution allows indictment of a sitting president is debatable.
Quote examples
John Ralston Saul
Canadian Author
Nothing is absolute, with the debatable exceptions of this statement and death.
Quote examples
Dan Crenshaw
American Politician
We actually all care about the environment, and most people believe in climate change and believe that mankind has something to do with that - how much is scientifically debatable, but there is some effect and we all have an interest in reducing carbon emissions, just having cleaner air, cleaner oceans. It's something we can get behind.
Quote examples
Adam Curtis
British Director
So much of the language that surrounds us - from things like economics, management theory, and the algorithms built into computer systems - appears to be objective and neutral. But in fact, it is loaded with powerful, and very debatable, political assumptions about how society should work and what human beings are really like.
Quote examples
George Saintsbury
English Writer
To pass to the deluge, and beyond it, and to come to close quarters with our proper division, the origin of Romance itself is a very debatable subject, or rather it is a subject which the wiser mind will hardly care to debate much.
Quote examples
Henry Spencer
Canadian Scientist
Whether solid rockets are more or less likely to fail than liquid-fuel rockets is debatable. More serious, though, is that when they do fail, it's usually violent and spectacular.
Quote examples
Bainbridge Colby
American Public Servant
That does not mean that we must forego just and fair criticism, or refrain from opposition to policies which are debatable or which do not command our approval.
Quote examples
Mary Elizabeth Winstead
American Actor
Obviously, we're all going to die at some point. Whether or not we are fated to die in some way I think is debatable. I just don't know which side to debate.
Quote examples
Bobby Charlton
English Athlete
It was a fair decision, the penalty, even though it was debatable whether it was inside or outside the box.
Quote examples
Thomas Griffith
American Editor
Anderson's muckraking is one of debatable ends constantly used to justify questionable works.
Quote examples
Brett Kavanaugh
American Judge
Whether the Constitution allows indictment of a sitting president is debatable.
Quote examples
John Ralston Saul
Canadian Author
Nothing is absolute, with the debatable exceptions of this statement and death.
Example 1 of 10
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