Perpetrable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Capable of being committed or enacted while referring to harmful acts or crimes
2. Describing actions that can be carried out, especially in the context of wrongdoing or offenses
3. Indicating that something can be accomplished, particularly when it involves unlawful behavior

Etymology: Before "perpetrate" meant to commit a crime, it meant simply to accomplish or carry something out. Its Latin source, "perpetrare," combined "per-" (through, thoroughly) with "patrare" (to accomplish or bring about), so the core idea was getting a thing done all the way through. The harmful sense developed in English, where "perpetrate" came to mean carrying out a crime, a wrong, or a deception. "Perpetrable" is simply "perpetrate" plus the suffix "-able," which marks something that can be done. It follows the same pattern as words like "washable" or "readable," and it is used of acts that could be committed, especially crimes or abuses. The suffix adds no new meaning of its own; the harmful sense comes entirely from the base verb.

Synonyms: achievable, doable

Antonyms: impossible, unreachable