capability

noun

ca·​pa·​bil·​i·​ty ˌkā-pə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

plural capabilities

1

: the quality or state of being capable

also : ability

The mayor has demonstrated his capability to handle municipal problems.

2

: a feature or faculty capable of development : potentiality

This vacant urban district has great capabilities.

3

: the facility or potential for an indicated use or deployment

the capability of a metal to be fused

nuclear capability

Synonyms of capability

• qualification
• ability
• expertise
• talent
• stuff

Examples of capability in a Sentence

The device has the capability of recording two television channels at once.

the nature of the tasks to which you are assigned will depend on your capabilities

Recent Examples on the Web

Like during OpenAI’s tests, normal safety guardrails were removed during Anthropic’s evaluations to assess their models’ full capabilities. — Hadas Gold, CNN Money, 31 July 2026

The breaches signal that AI’s expanding capabilities are already fueling the security threat experts long feared and even top developers can be caught off-guard by flaws their models can exploit. — Reuters, NBC news, 31 July 2026

RealTime Reservation has spent years building reservation capabilities across several categories. — Jeff Fromm, Forbes.com, 30 July 2026

For example, different types of fish may swim together in large, blended schools to increase their odds of survival, while ostriches and zebras hang around each to avoid predators thanks to their respective scent and sight capabilities. — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 30 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1587, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing capability

• nuclear capability

Rhymes for capability

• affability
• audibility
• bistability
• changeability
• contractility
• credibility
• culpability
• disability
• disutility
• durability
• fallibility
• feasibility