Like the words "practice" and "practical," the word "practicable" traces back the Greek praktos, meaning "done, or to be done."

"Practicable" took the scenic route into English, from Greek through Latin and French. We started using it around the year 1593 as another word for "doable," and that's still how we use it today.

In other words, in any particular situation, practicable plans and solutions are able to be done (usually because they make sense for the situation and because you have all the resources you need). 

How are "practical" and "practicable" different? While something "practical" can be reasonable or doable, something "practicable" is always doable. We often talk about practical objects, like a sturdy pair of shoes or a ponytail that keeps your hair out of your face as you work. But we wouldn't call the shoes or the ponytail practicable, because "practicable" means "able to be carried out." Instead, we call plans, goals, and actions practicable.

Part of speech:

Adjective: "Let's do it as soon as practicable;" "This recipe requires twenty minutes of chopping vegetables and just isn't practicable for weeknights."

Other forms: 

For a noun, you can use "practicableness," or, my preference: "practicability."

The adverb is "practicably," but I doubt you'll need it too often. If you find yourself saying something is "practicably possible" or "practicably achievable," then instead you can probably just say it's "practicable." But here's an example from the Washington Post: "A nomination could not practicably be forthcoming until the following month."

The opposite of "practicable" is "impracticable," and its other forms are "impracticably" and "impracticableness"/"impracticability."

how to use it:

"Practicable" is a common word, and pretty formal. Oof, it's got a lot of consonants, right? You're going to sound like you really mean business when you talk about practicable plans, goals, and actions. When you do, you're emphasizing how they're likely to work because all the resources are in place to ensure their success.

Because "practicable" is such a serious, businesslike word, it can be pretty funny if you throw it into a more lighthearted comment: check out that second example below from Salon.

examples:

"One of the [Butterfly Conservation's] founding principles was 'to breed rare butterflies in captivity and where practicable introduce them into the wild.'"
— Patrick Barkham, The Guardian, 13 October 2020

"I've combined pork, cabbage, and creamy sauces of varying types in more ways than one might think reasonably practicable."
— Ella Quittner, Salon, 6 October 2019

has this page helped you understand "practicable"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "practicable" without saying "feasible" or "workable."

try it out:

(Source)

It's exciting when you realize that a plan is practicable. Check out all that confidence on Winston's face: Ghostbusting has just become practicable. Whoop!

Talk about a time when you realized that one of your own goals or plans had finally become practicable. What resources or other factors fell into place for you? Tools? Talent? Time? Money?

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for May is "Color Your Own Colloquialism."

I'll give you the outline of a colloquialism, from English or translated from another language, along with its definition, and you create your own version of it. Your version can be goofy, straightforward, or unrepeatable in polite company: just have fun with it! To see the real version of the colloquialism, scroll all the way down. 

Try this one today: 

Meaning: "Since you don't know how long you'll live, go ahead and live in an extravagant, self-indulgent way."

Outline: "Live fast, die young, and (do a third thing that's strange or funny)."

review this word:

1. After IMPRACTICABLE, the most precise opposite of PRACTICABLE is

A. IMMOBILE.
B. IMPOSING.
C. IMPOSSIBLE.

2. _____ is one of the more practicable methods for reducing stress, requiring _____.

A. Quitting your job .. plenty of time and money
B. Meditation .. just a little bit of time and focus
C. Exercise .. a great deal of physical effort when you're already exhausted

Answers to the review questions: 1. C 2. B From the game, here's the real version of the colloquialism: "Live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse." (I like "Live fast, die young, and pay extra for guacamole.")

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.