Disputable

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /dɪˈspjuː.tə.bəɫ/

Definitions

1. Open to debate or question; capable of being challenged or argued against
2. Capable of being questioned or debated
3. subject to challenge or disagreement in its validity or truthfulness

Etymology: "Disputable" is a learned borrowing from Latin "disputābilis," which means "that can be disputed" and is built from "disputare," to discuss or argue. Its surface structure looks like "dispute" plus the suffix "-able," and that analysis is accurate as far as it goes, but the Latin route matters: English took the adjective whole rather than assembling it from the English noun and suffix. The Latin root itself carries a vivid physical image. "Disputare" combines "dis-," meaning apart or in different directions, with "putare," to reckon, weigh, or consider. The underlying sense is of pruning or sorting things out by turning them over separately, so that a dispute was originally a matter of weighing competing claims against one another. That sense of careful examination, rather than quarrelling, is what "disputable" still carries: a disputable claim is one that can be examined and contested, not necessarily one that is wrong.

Synonyms: arguable, debatable, controversial, questionable, contentious

Antonyms: undeniable, certain, unquestionable, indisputable, clear-cut