What does feasible mean?
Feasible describes something that can be done or achieved not merely in theory but in practice — a plan, task, or goal that is realistic given the available time, money, skills, and circumstances. It is stronger than 'possible': a trip to the moon is possible, but whether it is feasible depends on resources and conditions. The word is especially at home in professional registers — business plans, engineering reports, policy papers, and feasibility studies all rely on it — yet it appears comfortably in everyday speech whenever practicality is being weighed. Its connotation is measured and objective rather than enthusiastic; calling a proposal feasible is a sober judgment, not praise. Derived from a Latin root meaning 'to do' or 'to make', it entered English in the fifteenth century and shares ancestry with words like 'feature' and 'fashion'. Knowing 'feasible' gives speakers a precise way to distinguish what could happen from what actually will.
adjectivePossible and practical to do or achieve; capable of being accomplished with the available means and circumstances.
- Practical, workable, and achievable under real conditions — the standard sense applied to plans, projects, and proposals.
"After reviewing the budget, the committee concluded that the project was no longer feasible."
"Engineers determined that building the bridge within two years was technically feasible."
"It's simply not feasible for one person to run the entire operation alone."
"Feasible" comes from the same Latin root as "fashion" — literally, to make or shape — so when you say a plan is feasible, you're really saying it's something that can be made to happen.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of feasible
Feasible comes from the Old French 'faisable', the present participle-derived form of 'faire' (to do, to make), from Latin 'facere'. It entered English in the fifteenth century, originally meaning 'capable of being done or accomplished'. The same Latin root gave English a family of related words, including 'feature', 'fashion', and the rarer legal term 'feasance', reflecting the core idea of doing or making.
Related word forms
How feasible is actually used
Feasible is a neutral-to-formal adjective common in business, engineering, policy, and academic writing. It carries an evaluative connotation: calling something feasible signals it has passed a practical test of cost, effort, and circumstance, not just theoretical possibility. It is typically used predicatively ('a feasible plan') or as a complement ('make it feasible').
Easily confused with feasible
'Possible' means merely that something can be done in principle, whereas 'feasible' implies it can realistically be done given practical constraints such as cost, time, or resources.