Forgiveable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Describing an offense or mistake that is excusable and deserving of pardon
2. Able to be pardoned, such as a fault that can reasonably be overlooked
3. Worthy of forgiveness, meaning a wrong that one can reasonably let go of

Etymology: "Forgiveable" is a misspelling of "forgivable," so its history is that of the correct form. "Forgivable" is built from "forgive" plus the suffix "-able," which means "capable of being" and comes from Latin "-abilis." Stacking the two gives the sense "capable of being forgiven." The spelling trips people up because the final "e" of "forgive" is dropped before a suffix beginning with a vowel, but many writers keep it out of habit when adding "-able," producing the extra "e." Standard English drops it, so "forgivable" is the accepted form.

Synonyms: forgivable, pardonable, excusable, venial, understandable

Antonyms: unforgivable, inexcusable, unpardonable, unforgiveable