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capable

adjective
KAY-puh-buhl/ˈkeɪ.pə.bəl/

3 meanings of capable

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  1. 1
    does things welladjective
    Having the ability, skill, or efficiency needed to perform a particular task.

    He proved himself a capable leader throughout the long crisis.

    This year's team is far more capable than the last.

    UsageBefore a noun or after be: a capable leader. For what someone can do, use capable of + -ing (not incorrect: capable to do).

    Similarcompetent, able, skilled, proficient, effective

    Oppositeincompetent, incapable, inept

  2. 2
    adjective
    Used with of to say what a person or thing is able or likely to do or become, often something bad or unexpected.

    Under enough pressure, even honest people are capable of lying.

    Left untreated, a minor infection is capable of becoming life-threatening.

    UsageFollowed by of + a noun or -ing form: capable of lying. Said of a person, capable of anything usually warns rather than praises.

    Oppositeincapable

  3. 3
    big enoughadjectiveobsolete
    Having enough size or capacity to hold, contain, or receive something.
    He has begun a road capable of a wheel-carriage.
    1775, Samuel Johnson, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (Works 10.479)
    The place chosen was the cathedral church, capable of about 400 persons.
    1672, Lord Herbert, The Life and Reign of King Henry the Eighth
    Note

    A sense of room rather than skill, now gone from the language. In Lord Herbert's history of Henry VIII (1649), a cathedral church was capable of about 400 persons, and Samuel Johnson in 1775 describes a road capable of a wheel-carriage. The of names what fits or passes, not an action. Modern English says holds, seats or takes; using it this way today reads as deliberate archaism, or as a slip toward the ability sense.

    Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

    • Capable historically expressed sufficient capacity to contain or receive something. en.wiktionary.org
    • Lord Herbert wrote a history of Henry VIII first published in 1649. archives.library.wales
    • Herbert's history describes a cathedral church as capable of about 400 persons. en.wiktionary.org
    • Samuel Johnson's relevant work, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland, was published in 1775. en.wikipedia.org
    • Johnson describes a road as capable of a wheel-carriage. gutenberg.org
    • In these examples, of introduces the people or vehicle accommodated. en.wiktionary.org

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Origin

Borrowed from Middle French capable, which derives from Late Latin capābilis.

Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 2 facts