What does annullable mean?
Annullable is a formal legal adjective describing something that can be annulled — that is, officially declared void or invalid, as though it had never existed. It applies chiefly to legal instruments and formal arrangements such as contracts, agreements, and marriages. A contract that was signed under misrepresentation, or a marriage entered into without valid consent, may be described as annullable: a court has the power to set it aside entirely rather than merely terminate it going forward. The word carries a precise technical connotation, distinguishing conditions that can be undone retroactively from those that are simply ended prospectively. Its antonyms include irrevocable and binding, which describe obligations that cannot be undone. Annullable rarely appears outside professional legal writing; in ordinary conversation people would more naturally say something 'can be cancelled'. Its value lies in this precision: when lawyers need a single word to signal that a legal act is vulnerable to complete nullification, annullable supplies exactly that meaning.
adjectiveCapable of being annulled; able to be declared legally or formally void or invalid.
- (of a legal instrument such as a contract) capable of being rendered void by proper legal authority
- (of a marriage or similar formal union) eligible to be declared null and void from the outset
"The court ruled that the contract was annullable because one party had been misled at the time of signing."
"The agreement remained annullable until both parties had fully signed and exchanged the final documents."
"Because the bride had been under the legal age of consent, the union was annullable at her family's request."
An annullable marriage never legally existed in the first place — the law doesn't end it, it erases it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of annullable
Annullable derives from the verb annul, which comes from the Latin ad + nullus ('to nothing'), via the Late Latin annullare, meaning to reduce to nothing or make void. The word entered English legal vocabulary through Old French annuler. As an adjective formed with the suffix -able, annullable denotes the capacity of being annulled. It shares its root with related terms such as annulment, nullify, and nullity, all of which concern the reduction of a legal act to legal nonexistence.
Related word forms
How annullable is actually used
Formal register, used almost exclusively in legal contexts — contracts, marriages, decrees. Rare outside law; everyday speech would typically say 'can be cancelled' or 'can be overturned' instead.
Easily confused with annullable
Annullable is the adjective describing something that can be annulled, while annulment is the noun naming the act of annulling it.