feasible

adjective

fea·​si·​ble ˈfē-zə-bəl How to pronounce feasible (audio)
1
: capable of being done or carried out
a feasible plan
2
: capable of being used or dealt with successfully : suitable
3
: reasonable, likely
gave an explanation that seemed feasible enough
feasibility noun
feasibly adverb
feasibleness noun

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Feasible and Doable

Feasible comes from faire, the French verb meaning “to do.” Doable and feasible therefore originally meant literally the same thing: “capable of being done.” Indeed, doable was formed with -able, the Latin-derived French ending meaning “capable of” combined, in this instance, with do, a word with roots in Old English and one of the most basic and useful of our verbs. Though their respective etymological meanings may overlap, doable and feasible exist more in parallel with each other than as true synonyms. As with most such pairs of words, the Latin-derived term is used when describing more abstract notions. The words most commonly modified by feasible include:

option

alternative

solution

plan

approach

These are words that describe what has yet to be decided or what will be carefully considered. By contrast, doable modifies more concrete terms:

task

thing

target

Feasible is used when an element of abstraction, distance, and technical specificity is needed. The more earthy doable is rarely used in formal writing, and is not found in the works of Shakespeare, the King James Bible, or any of the founding documents of the United States.

This abstract use of feasible also accounts for the word that expresses a putative, conceptual, or hypothetical state: feasibility. Indeed, we frequently encounter “feasibility study” but not “doability study” (although doability is a word that is sometimes used, it hasn’t yet been added to most dictionaries). As long as something is just an idea, it’s feasible. When it’s time for action, we need to find out if it’s doable.

Choose the Right Synonym for feasible

possible, practicable, feasible mean capable of being realized.

possible implies that a thing may certainly exist or occur given the proper conditions.

a possible route up the west face of the mountain

practicable implies that something may be effected by available means or under current conditions.

a solution that is not practicable in the time available

feasible applies to what is likely to work or be useful in attaining the end desired.

commercially feasible for mass production

Examples of feasible in a Sentence

Egyptian hieroglyphics … are also usually assumed to be the product of independent invention, but the alternative interpretation of idea diffusion is more feasible than in the case of Chinese writing. Jared M. Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel, 1997
… there do not appear to be any remedies for this situation that are at once politically feasible and likely to work. Richard A. Posner, Times Literary Supplement, 1 Sept. 1995
The '70s was the era in which it seemed more important, or more feasible, to reform our bodies than to change the world. Barbara Ehrenreich, Utne Reader, May/June 1992
The government has now made it feasible for tourists to spend as long as a month in the country … Fred C. Shapiro, New Yorker, 22 Oct. 1990
looking for a feasible way to create new jobs would it be feasible to build a cabin in so short a time?
Recent Examples on the Web Furthermore, problematically, sometimes breaking down a huge problem into subsets is not feasible or will otherwise not lend itself to producing a final answer of interest. Lance Eliot, Forbes, 26 Sep. 2024 Our recent success in developing and deploying COVID vaccines has convinced me that such an effort is feasible. Ambroise Wonkam, Scientific American, 17 Sep. 2024 At the same time, completely eliminating the heavy metal in food isn’t feasible, because lead is a naturally occurring element in the Earth’s crust. Berkeley Lovelace Jr., NBC News, 15 Sep. 2024 The best research, at least in the biomedical sphere, usually requires the findings of randomized clinical trials, but running those for policymaking often isn’t feasible. Cedric Dark, WIRED, 14 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for feasible 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'feasible.' 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

Middle English faisible, feseable, borrowed from Anglo-French fesable, faisable, from fais-, stem of faire "to make, do" (going back to Latin facere) + -able -able — more at fact

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of feasible was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near feasible

Cite this Entry

“Feasible.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/feasible. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

feasible

adjective
fea·​si·​ble ˈfē-zə-bəl How to pronounce feasible (audio)
: possible to do or carry out
feasibility noun
feasibleness
ˈfē-zə-bəl-nəs
noun
feasibly adverb

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