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tenable

adjective

ˈte-nə-bəl How to pronounce tenable (audio)
Definition of tenablenext
1
as in defendable
capable of being defended against physical attack the soldiers' encampment on the open plain was not tenable, so they retreated to higher ground

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in justifiable
capable of being defended with good reasoning against verbal attack the tenable theory that a giant meteor strike set off a chain of events resulting in the demise of the dinosaurs

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tenable But having said that, there is also a tenable argument against the team handing him a handsome pay raise. — Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 24 Apr. 2026 Nicks has said that isn’t tenable without Christine McVie, but the band toured heavily without her between 2003 and 2014. — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 30 Mar. 2026 How tenable will an all-righty bench be over the medium to long term? — Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2026 But the more tenable tea on the name involves eighteenth-century trading ships of the British Empire. — Andrew Norman Wilson, Harpers Magazine, 24 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for tenable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tenable
  1. defendable
  2. justifiable
  3. defended
  4. defensible
  5. secured
  6. protected
  7. secure
Adjective
  • For months the university has been briefing journalists that its appointment system is rigorous and defendable, and that the campaign was targeted against a Black academic because of his race.
    — Rupert Neate, CNN Money, 16 Aug. 2026
  • Even if maritime regulators demanded shippers purchase more defendable vessels, the crews aboard are unready for the challenge.
    — Craig Hooper, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of defendable
Adjective
  • The tax revolt was a successful attempt by a small group of ideologues to capitalize on people’s justifiable anger at the cost-of-living crisis that followed the war in Vietnam, along with California’s runaway home prices.
    — Maggie McGowan, The New York Review of Books, 5 Sep. 2026
  • The valuation of Fernandez is entirely justifiable within the context of the huge fees paid by several Premier League clubs, and specifically City, for high-level central midfielders this summer.
    — Liam Twomey, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of justifiable
Adjective
  • The idea is to give aircraft another long-range weapon for attacking high-value or time-sensitive targets while keeping those aircraft farther from heavily defended areas.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 20 Sep. 2026
  • The city is part of Ukraine’s Fortress Belt, a series of heavily defended cities that Russia must overcome to advance farther into the region.
    — Vikram Mittal, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of defended
Adjective
  • Traceable references make each claim defensible when sharing work with clients or supervisors.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 24 Sep. 2026
  • This is where companies build defensible value even as the foundation becomes more shared.
    — John Healy, Forbes.com, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of defensible
Adjective
  • With the California Academy of Family Physicians, Watts advocated for and secured funding for a family medicine residency program that focused on filling healthcare gaps.
    — Emma Hall, Sacbee.com, 21 Sep. 2026
  • The partnership establishes Allegro as Oceanfront’s preferred senior secured production financing partner.
    — Tanya Fedak, Variety, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of secured
Adjective
  • The main Wekiva River was designated by Congress in 2000 as a protected National Wild and Scenic River.
    — Martin E. Comas, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 Aug. 2026
  • This includes Ukraine, where the Russian language recently lost protected status.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of protected
Adjective
  • These and other factors make energy less secure and more expensive.
    — Johannes Teyssen, Fortune, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Access to mental health services also fell short of benchmarks, and some foster kids are still sleeping in child welfare offices and other unlicensed centers because other, more secure placements weren’t available, the report showed.
    — Laura Bauer, Kansas City Star, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of secure

Browse Nearby Words

ten
tenable
tenacious
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Cite this Entry

“Tenable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tenable. Accessed 27 Sep. 2026.

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