tenable

adjective

ten·​a·​ble ˈte-nə-bəl 

: capable of being held, maintained, or defended : defensible, reasonable

tenability

ˌte-nə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

noun

tenableness noun

tenably

ˈte-nə-blē 

adverb

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Hold Onto the Meaning of Tenable

Tenable means "holdable". In the past it was often used in a physical sense—for example, to refer to a city that an army was trying to "hold" militarily against an enemy force. But nowadays it's almost always used when speaking of "held" ideas and theories. If you hold an opinion but evidence appears that completely contradicts it, your opinion is no longer tenable. So, for example, the old ideas that cancer is infectious or that being bled by leeches can cure your whooping cough now seem untenable.

Synonyms

• defendable
• defensible

Examples of tenable in a Sentence

the soldiers' encampment on the open plain was not tenable, so they retreated to higher ground

the tenable theory that a giant meteor strike set off a chain of events resulting in the demise of the dinosaurs

Recent Examples on the Web

Amid cord-cutting, that business model doesn't appear tenable. —Tim Baysinger, Axios, 17 Sep. 2024

An all-American era With the US military's reliance on Russian rocket engines no longer politically tenable, and SpaceX ready to launch military satellites at lower cost with an all-American, partially reusable rocket, ULA announced the development of a new launch vehicle named Vulcan in 2015. —Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 30 July 2024

In recent days, as Biden’s position became less tenable, some Democrats have urged an open nomination process rather than a coronation of the vice president. —Cleve R. Wootson Jr., Washington Post, 22 July 2024

After Thursday’s debate and the subsequent splurge of reporting about the conditions that obtain in the White House, that’s no longer tenable. ... —Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 2 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French, going back to Old French, "capable of being defended against attack," from tenir "to hold, have possession of" + -able -able — more at tenant entry 1

First Known Use

1579, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

tenable

adjective

ten·​a·​ble ˈten-ə-bəl 

: capable of being held, maintained, or defended

a tenable argument