avoidable

Capable of being vacated; liable to be annulled or made invalid; voidable.

Adjective

  1. Capable of being vacated; liable to be annulled or made invalid; voidable.
  2. Capable of being avoided, shunned, or escaped.
    • The minister confessed that many of the deaths were avoidable.
    • Beyond the avoidable deaths that are already visible, something ominous is happening below the surface in crisis zones. - 2026 February 8, Jeremy Konyndyk, “The Aftermath of Feeding America’s Credibility Into the...
    • For their part, Europeans say they are not wavering from their decision not to get involved in a war they believe was not necessary, that they were not consulted on, and which now has triggered an avoidable global...

Origin

Etymology tree English avoid Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlis Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English avoidable From avoid + -able.

Forms

more avoidable most avoidable

Synonyms

annullable voidable evitable avertable avoidable dodgeable escapable evadable fleeable nonmandatory nonobligatory optional preventable preventible resistible skippable

Antonyms

inavoidable unavoidable inviolable unbreakable unbreachable inevitable impossible

Hypernyms

possible

Derived

avoidability avoidableness avoidably nonavoidable

Noun

  1. Something that can or should be avoided.
    • Though Mrs Golson re-appeared regularly at the Twyborns', she was on my list of avoidables from the night of the corked moustache until she sprang upon us yesterday. - 1980, Patrick White, The Twyborn Affair, page 38:

Forms

avoidables