possible
adjective
Simple meaning
Able but not certain to happen.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pahsuhbuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɑsəbəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
usually not comparable
Able but not certain to happen; neither inevitable nor impossible.
comparable
Capable of being done or achieved; feasible.
Being considered, e.g. for a position.
Apparently valid, likely, plausible.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Able but not certain to happen; neither inevitable nor impossible.
Used this way, possible is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use possible
- “A breakthrough may be possible next year.”adjective
- “Politics is the art of the possible.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A possible alternative.
To a feasible extent.
To a feasible extent.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: able but not certain to happen
Antonyms
Sense: able but not certain to happen
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.