Beatable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Capable of being overcome or defeated in a competition or conflict
2. Describes something that can be beaten or surpassed by an opponent
3. Indicates the possibility of losing or being outdone in a contest or challenge

Etymology: "Beatable" is a plain formation: the verb "beat" with the suffix "-able," meaning "able to be." Its sense of "able to be bettered" is the one that matters here, and it did not come directly from "beat" itself. Instead it was back-formed from "unbeatable," the older and more common word. Speakers saw "unbeatable" (meaning "unable to be beaten") and reasoned that the opposite form should exist, so they produced "beatable" by stripping off the "un-" and the "-able" was already there to do the work. The word is therefore a reversal in the reverse direction of how most English adjectives arise. Ordinarily a base word gains a suffix to make an adjective, but here the adjective "unbeatable" came first and "beatable" followed from it. The result is that the positive form is in some sense the younger one, derived from a negative that was itself built on "beat."

Synonyms: defeatable, vulnerable, losable

Antonyms: invincible, unbeatable, undefeatable