tenable

adjective

ten·​a·​ble ˈte-nə-bəl 

: capable of being held, maintained, or defended : defensible, reasonable

tenability

ˌte-nə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

noun

tenableness noun

tenably

ˈte-nə-blē 

adverb

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Hold Onto the Meaning of Tenable

Tenable means "holdable". In the past it was often used in a physical sense—for example, to refer to a city that an army was trying to "hold" militarily against an enemy force. But nowadays it's almost always used when speaking of "held" ideas and theories. If you hold an opinion but evidence appears that completely contradicts it, your opinion is no longer tenable. So, for example, the old ideas that cancer is infectious or that being bled by leeches can cure your whooping cough now seem untenable.

Synonyms

• defendable
• defensible

Examples of tenable in a Sentence

the soldiers' encampment on the open plain was not tenable, so they retreated to higher ground

the tenable theory that a giant meteor strike set off a chain of events resulting in the demise of the dinosaurs

Recent Examples on the Web

As a result, Washington’s default approach to Moscow is no longer tenable. —Anna Arutunyan, Foreign Affairs, 17 Feb. 2021

That’s not tenable, even in the places where that’s currently our world. —Izzie Ramirez, Vox, 21 Nov. 2024

Time will tell whether or not his portal/yearly free agency strategy is tenable. —Christopher Kamrani, The Athletic, 27 Apr. 2024

Over the years, the rules loosened, and the number of deaths seen as tenable rose drastically. —Dorothy Wickenden, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French, going back to Old French, "capable of being defended against attack," from tenir "to hold, have possession of" + -able -able — more at tenant entry 1

First Known Use

1579, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

tenable

adjective

ten·​a·​ble ˈten-ə-bəl 

: capable of being held, maintained, or defended

a tenable argument