demonstrable

demonstrable — adjective

1. Something that is demonstrable can be shown to be true or real in a clear and ce

1.adjectiveC1
Definition

Something that is demonstrable can be shown to be true or real in a clear and certain way, especially by providing facts or evidence.

Example

The link between smoking and lung cancer is demonstrable through decades of research.

predicative: be demonstrable + through [evidence source]

Megan's lawyer argued that there was no demonstrable evidence against her client.

attributive: demonstrable + evidence

Common collocations
  • demonstrable evidence
  • demonstrable fact
  • demonstrable improvement
  • demonstrable effect
  • demonstrable link
  • demonstrable need
  • demonstrable result
Synonyms
  • provable

    More common in everyday contexts; often implies logical or mathematical deduction rather than empirical evidence

  • verifiable

    Focuses on checking or confirming against a reliable source or record

  • evident

    Broader meaning; includes things that are obvious without requiring formal proof

Antonyms
  • unprovable

    Cannot be proved using available methods or evidence

  • questionable

    Suspicious or doubtful; not clearly true

Grammar Patterns

demonstrable + noun

be + demonstrable

there + be + demonstrable + noun

Usage Note

Common in formal, academic, and legal writing; less frequent in casual conversation. Often used with nouns like 'evidence', 'fact', 'improvement', 'link', or 'effect'.

Common Mistakes

He was very demonstrable about his love for her.
He was very demonstrative about his love for her.
'demonstrable' means provable; 'demonstrative' means openly showing feelings.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

'Demonstrable' describes something that can be shown to be true through clear evidence or logical reasoning, making it a stronger claim than 'provable', which often works in formal logic or mathematics. 'Verifiable' focuses on checking facts against a reliable source, while 'evident' describes something obvious without requiring formal proof. In practice, a scientific finding is 'demonstrable' when experiments repeatedly show the same result; it is 'provable' when it follows deductively from accepted premises. A historical fact is 'verifiable' if original documents survive to confirm it; it may be 'evident' from surviving architecture even when written records are lost. Choose 'demonstrable' for empirically supported claims, 'provable' for logical or mathematical results, 'verifiable' for source-checkable facts, and 'evident' for what is plain to see or understand.

demonstrable ↗provableverifiable ↗evident ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • beyond reasonable doubt

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

From Latin 'demonstrabilis', meaning 'that can be shown', from 'demonstrare' (to show, to point out), formed from 'de-' (completely, thoroughly) and 'monstrare' (to show). The word entered English in the early 1600s through French and Latin scholarly writing.