passable
/ˈpæsəbəl/adjective
passable is spelled P-A-S-S-A-B-L-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,998th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, passable means “That may be passed or traversed” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in passable?
| Letters | 8: P-A-S-S-A-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 36,998th 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 passable?
Passable appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,998th 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 passable?
- US /ˈpæsəbəl/
Passable has 3 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-passable.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of passable
- more passable comparative
- most passable superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does passable mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
That may be passed or traversed.
- 2
Tolerable; adequate; no more than satisfactory.
- 3
able to "pass", or be accepted as a member of a race, sex or other group to which society would not otherwise regard one as belonging.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Passable in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | passierbar , passabel |
| Spanish | pasable, pasadero |
| Portuguese | aceitável, passável |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does passable come from?
From French passable, equivalent to pass + -able.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).