What does exactable mean?
"Exactable" is a formal adjective describing something — usually a payment, tax, fine, debt, or obligation — that can be legitimately demanded or enforced from a person. If a sum is exactable, an authority such as a government, court, or contracting party has the right to require it, and refusal carries legal consequence. The word belongs chiefly to legal, financial, and administrative writing rather than casual conversation: one might read that a levy is "not exactable without statutory authority," or that certain contractual penalties remain exactable despite a dispute. It carries a connotation of legitimate compulsion, distinguishing enforceable demands from mere requests. The term derives from the verb "exact," which traces back through Latin exigere, meaning to drive out or demand, making "exactable" a useful precision tool for writers who need to say not just that something is owed, but that it can actually be compelled.
adjectiveCapable of being exacted, demanded, or enforced — typically said of payments, penalties, obligations, or duties that can legitimately be required of someone.
- (Of a payment, debt, penalty, or duty) able to be legally demanded or enforced from a person.
"The court ruled that the penalty clause was exactable under the terms of the contract."
"Only taxes levied by proper authority are exactable; the rest can be challenged in court."
"The landlord discovered the service charge, though written into the lease, was not strictly exactable without prior notice."
Every fine, fee, and tax you've ever paid was only real because it was exactable — a word lawyers lean on more than the rest of us ever notice.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of exactable
"Exactable" is formed from the verb "exact" plus the adjectival suffix "-able." The verb comes from Latin exigere, meaning "to drive out, demand, or measure precisely," formed from ex- ("out") and agere ("to drive"). Its past participle, exactus, gave English both "exact" in the sense of demanding payment and the adjective "exact" meaning precise. Cognates sharing this root include "exigency," "examine," and "agent."
How exactable is actually used
"Exactable" is a formal legal and administrative term, rare in everyday speech. It most often appears in discussions of debts, taxes, fines, and contractual obligations, where the question is whether a demand can legitimately be enforced rather than merely requested.
Easily confused with exactable
'Exacting' describes something that makes severe demands (an exacting boss or task), while 'exactable' describes something that can itself be demanded or enforced.