conceivable

conceivable — adjective

1. If a situation, idea, or explanation is conceivable, your mind can accept it as

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

If a situation, idea, or explanation is conceivable, your mind can accept it as something that could happen or be true, even if it seems unlikely.

Example

It is conceivable that the missing cat found its way home through the woods.

pattern: it + be + conceivable + that-clause

The rescue team explored every conceivable route through the mountains before turning back.

collocation: every conceivable + noun

Common collocations
  • every conceivable
  • barely conceivable
  • hardly conceivable
  • it is conceivable that
  • not conceivable
Synonyms
  • imaginable

    broader term — anything you can picture in your mind, whether reasonable or not

  • plausible

    implies some evidence or reason exists to support the idea, not just imagination

  • thinkable

    more informal; focuses on what the mind can consider as a possibility

  • believable

    emphasises credibility and trustworthiness rather than mere possibility

Antonyms
  • inconceivable

    the direct opposite — impossible to imagine or believe

  • unimaginable

    so extreme or strange that the mind cannot picture it

  • unthinkable

    too shocking or unpleasant to be accepted as a possibility

Grammar Patterns

it + be + conceivable + that-clause

every conceivable + noun

not conceivable

Usage Note

Frequently paired with 'every' to mean 'all possible types of' (e.g. every conceivable method). The negative form 'inconceivable' is more common in everyday speech than 'not conceivable'.

Common Mistakes

It is conceivable for us to finish the project by Friday.
It is possible for us to finish the project by Friday.
'conceivable' describes what your mind can accept as imaginable, not what is practically achievable.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

These five words all relate to what the mind can accept, but they differ in strength and scope. 'Conceivable' is the broadest — it means something can be formed as an idea in the mind, even if it is unlikely. 'Imaginable' is very similar but focuses on the power of mental picturing; it often appears in the phrase 'the worst imaginable'. 'Plausible' adds a requirement of reasonableness — a plausible story has some evidence or logic behind it. 'Possible' is more grounded in practical feasibility than imagination: something possible can actually happen. 'Thinkable' is the most informal and overlaps with 'conceivable', but is less common in formal writing. For example, time travel is conceivable (you can imagine it) but not possible with today's technology. An excuse might be plausible (it sounds reasonable enough to believe) even if it is not true.

conceivable ↗imaginable ↗plausible ↗possible ↗thinkable

Common collocations

Nouns

  • conceivable outcome
  • conceivable scenario
  • conceivable explanation
  • conceivable reason
  • conceivable method

Adverbs

  • barely conceivable
  • easily conceivable
  • hardly conceivable
  • readily conceivable

Phrases

  • every conceivable kind of
  • it is conceivable that
  • by any conceivable means

Prepositions

  • conceivable to
  • conceivable in

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Conceivable comes from the Latin verb 'concipere', formed from 'com-' (together) and 'capere' (to take). In Latin, 'concipere' meant 'to take in' or 'to absorb', and later developed the meaning 'to form in the mind'. The word passed into French as 'concevable', and then into English in the 1600s with the suffix '-able', meaning 'able to be formed in the mind as an idea'. The modern use relating to possibility — 'able to be imagined as possible' — became standard by the 1700s.