comparable

Pluralcomparables

1. 1
   adjective

   Close enough to something else that the two seem much alike.

   Like two cups that hold almost the same amount of water.

   Their two houses are comparable in size.

   This phone is comparable to the one I had before.

   Similarsimilar, equivalent, analogous, akin, commensurate

   Oppositedifferent, dissimilar, disparate, unequal

2. 2
   adjective

   Able to be measured against something else to see how they match up.

   Like two rulers marked the same way, so you can line them up.

   We can put these prices side by side because they are comparable.

   The two tests are not comparable, since they used different methods.

   Note
3. 3
   nouncountable

   A thing picked because it is close enough to another to be measured against it.

   Like finding another house just like yours to guess what yours is worth.

   The agent found a good comparable down the street to set the price.

   Without a clear comparable, it was hard to say if the offer was fair.

   Note
4. 4
   adjective

   Able to change form to show 'more' and 'most,' the way many describing words do.

   Like a dial you can turn up to 'more' and all the way to 'most.'

   The word 'big' is comparable because it can become 'bigger' and 'biggest.'

   Some words are not comparable, so you cannot say 'more dead.'

   Similargradable

   Oppositeungradable, uncomparable

   Note
5. 5
   adjective

   Able to be ranked, so that one of two things counts as bigger than or equal to the other.

   Like two steps on a staircase, where one is clearly higher than the other.

   In this ordering, 4 and 8 are comparable because 4 is less than 8.

   Two sets can fail to be comparable when neither one is inside the other.

   Oppositeincomparable

   Note

Showing meanings only. Show all 5