debatable

adjective

de·​bat·​able di-ˈbā-tə-bəl 

dē-

1

: claimed by more than one country

debatable border territory

2

a

: open to dispute : questionable

the debatable wisdom of his advice

b

: open to debate

3

: capable of being debated

debatably

di-ˈbā-tə-blē 

dē-

adverb

Synonyms

• arguable
• controvertible
• disputable
• doubtable
• doubtful
• issuable
• moot
• negotiable
• questionable

Examples of debatable in a Sentence

it's always debatable which college football team is really number one, since there's more than one ranking system

the debatable wisdom of going back for another helping from the buffet

Recent Examples on the Web

Treasuries have been around for a long time, but their underlying purpose is debatable at best. —Dp Opinion, The Denver Post, 10 Mar. 2025

Whether Musk's emails and social media posts constitute a writing sufficient to constitute an actual contract or charitable trust between the parties is debatable. —Ars Technica, 5 Mar. 2025

Again, if the goal is to increase American manufacturing jobs, that's debatable. —Nathaniel Rakich, ABC News, 13 Feb. 2025

Whether Chappelle needed this advice or not is debatable, given that Chappelle is undoubtedly a seasoned performer. —Justin Gest, Newsweek, 20 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1536, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for debatable

• datable
• inflatable
• locatable
• rotatable
• titratable
• translatable
• untranslatable

Kids Definition

debatable

adjective

de·​bat·​able di-ˈbāt-ə-bəl 

: open to question or dispute

a debatable decision

debatably

-blē 

adverb