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

While the issue of gun violence is complicated and while many responses are debatable, this trend is neither. —Joel Mosbacher, New York Daily News, 24 Apr. 2025

While her in-ring skills were debatable among fans, her undeniable charisma and strong connection with the WWE audience were consistently praised. —Gordon G. Chang, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Apr. 2025

Both obviously deserve the opportunity to fix this (that isn’t even debatable with Spoelstra). —Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 19 Mar. 2025

While the fact sheet has been rescinded, the underlying substantive question of Title IX’s potential application to the settlement remains a debatable topic. —Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 12 Feb. 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