comprehensible

adjective

com·​pre·​hen·​si·​ble ˌkäm-pri-ˈhen(t)-sə-bəl How to pronounce comprehensible (audio)
-prē-
: capable of being comprehended : intelligible
a comprehensible explanation
comprehensibility noun
comprehensibleness noun
comprehensibly adverb

Examples of comprehensible in a Sentence

a book that makes the subject of longitude comprehensible to most laymen
Recent Examples on the Web Without a single word of dialogue, the game effectively establishes an arcane world of complex machinery, archaic architecture, and barely comprehensible malevolent forces that are pulling the strings behind the scenes. Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, 27 Dec. 2023 The threat—that even something seemingly captured on tape could be false—is immediately comprehensible, genuinely scary, and no longer hypothetical. Jacob Stern, The Atlantic, 31 Jan. 2024 Even in more comprehensible pieces in Under the Radar, the theme was excavation. Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 25 Jan. 2024 Give the public information that is clear and comprehensible. WSJ, 21 Nov. 2023 The echoes of the American Revolution will make Ukraine’s story intuitively comprehensible to Americans, deepening Ukraine’s most important strategic partnership. Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 22 Aug. 2023 So much energy and effort has gone in to navigating the movie’s treacherous obstacle course and marshaling the troops that someone seems to have forgotten that a comprehensible story would be needed to tie all of it together, and this is where Medusa Deluxe starts to turn to stone. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 9 Aug. 2023 The raw message looked too random to be comprehensible. Shi En Kim, Scientific American, 3 Aug. 2023 While far from perfect, hospital rankings are one of the only sources of up-to-date data that patients have to compare hospitals in a comprehensible and transparent way, Michael Millenson, an expert on quality care and patient safety, said in a July interview. Adrianna Rodriguez, USA TODAY, 1 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'comprehensible.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

see comprehend

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of comprehensible was in 1598

Dictionary Entries Near comprehensible

Cite this Entry

“Comprehensible.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comprehensible. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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