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

• questionable
• disputable
• arguable

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

What’s more debatable is whether the idea is probable, or even plausible. —Alex Hutchinson, Outside, 15 Sep. 2025

What's next for mortgages, though, is debatable. —Susan Tompor, Freep.com, 15 Sep. 2025

Whether the Blackhawks would have fared any better since then with experienced coaches is debatable, but general manager Kyle Davidson is banking on Blashill to take a promising young group of players to the next level and eventually turn the corner in the organization’s rebuild phase. —Jonas Siegel, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2025

Whether their intentions are praiseworthy is debatable. —Robert Goulder, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 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