What does practicable mean?
Practicable is an adjective meaning that something is capable of being put into practice or carried out successfully. It is especially useful when discussing plans, methods, proposals, or solutions: a practicable plan is not merely attractive or theoretically possible, but realistic enough to implement. The word is common in formal and professional English, including engineering, business, law, and public administration, though it is also used in general discussion. It differs slightly from practical, which can mean concerned with everyday use or actual conditions, and from feasible, which broadly describes whether something is possible. In everyday speech, workable or doable can express a similar idea more informally. A related concern is distinguishability: a solution may be feasible in principle but impracticable because of its cost, complexity, or practical requirements.
adjectiveCapable of being carried out, put into practice, or achieved; feasible.
- Capable of being carried out or put into practice; feasible.
"The committee is considering a practicable solution to the transport problem."
"The engineers concluded that the repair was technically practicable within the available time."
"We need a practicable alternative that the team can begin using immediately."
A plan can be good in theory and still fail the practical test: it is only practicable when its ideas can actually be put into action.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does practicable come from?
Practicable comes through English from Latin practicabilis, meaning “capable of being practiced” or “usable,” which was formed from practicare, “to practice, act, or do.” The word entered English during the early modern period and has close relationships with practical, practice, and practitioner. Its Latin root also connects it to the broader family of words concerned with action and practice rather than merely theory.
Related word forms
How practicable is actually used
Formal and commonly used in professional, legal, and technical contexts. It is often close in meaning to feasible, but tends to emphasize whether a proposed course of action can actually be carried out.
Easily confused with practicable
Practical describes something concerned with actual practice or everyday usefulness, while practicable means that something can actually be carried out.
Feasible generally means possible or capable of being achieved, whereas practicable more specifically suggests that a plan or method can be put into practice.