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 consequences are predictable and well documented. —Walter Pavlo, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 2026

Crime, disease, and addiction were cast as moral failures rather than as the predictable consequences of political decisions. —Heather Ann Thompson, The Atlantic, 26 Jan. 2026

Doctors started prescribing other opioids for postpartum pain, such as hydromorphone and oxycodone, whose metabolic pathways are more predictable and less subject to genetic variations. —Ben Taub, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026

The economic result, however, has been a predictable failure. —Lou Rinaldi, Hartford Courant, 26 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1820, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for predictable

• indictable
• unpredictable