predictable

adjective

pre·​dict·​able pri-ˈdik-tə-bəl 

1

: capable of being predicted : able to be known, seen, or declared in advance

a predictable reaction/outcome

a very predictable plot

changes occurring at a steady and predictable rate

2

: behaving in a way that is expected

I knew he would say that. He's so predictable.

predictability

pri-ˌdik-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

noun

By comparing the projections, meteorologists can get a measure of the weather's predictability: The less agreement among the forecasts, the less predictable the weather.

—Richard Monastersky

Examples of predictable in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The draft’s final day is always less predictable. —Zac Jackson, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2026

That’s in part because people arrested in and around Chicago are no longer being sent to a predictable set of detention facilities. —Caroline Kubzansky, Chicago Tribune, 25 Apr. 2026

The harm is predictable — and preventable. —Darlene Mealy, New York Daily News, 25 Apr. 2026

The pests that emerge first every spring Insects follow a predictable pattern, according to Mascari. —Charlotte Maracina, USA Today, 25 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1820, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for predictable

• indictable
• unpredictable