allowable
/əˈlaʊ.əbəl/adjective, noun
allowable is spelled A-L-L-O-W-A-B-L-E: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,017th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, allowable means “Appropriate; acceptable” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in allowable?
| Letters | 9: A-L-L-O-W-A-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 30,017th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is allowable?
Allowable appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,017th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce allowable?
- /əˈlaʊ.əbəl/
Allowable has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-allowable.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of allowable
- more allowable comparative
- most allowable superlative
- allowables plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does allowable mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Appropriate; acceptable.
- 2
Intellectually admissible; valid; probable.
- 3
Able to be added or deducted in consideration of something.
- 4
Permissible; tolerable; legitimate.
- 5
obsoletePraiseworthy.
noun
- 1
A permitted amount or activity.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does allowable come from?
From Middle English allowable, alowable, a borrowing from Old French alouable (Modern French allouable), from allouer, equivalent to allow + -able.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).