Meaning & use
admissible
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparablelegallaw
Allowed to be used or considered in a court of law.
Grammar: Often used after the verb 'be': The evidence is admissible. It can also come before a noun: admissible evidence.
Patterns
- admissible evidence
- admissible in court
- be admissible as evidence
The judge ruled that the confession was not admissible.
Only documents signed by both parties are admissible in court.
Her testimony was ruled admissible despite the objection.
adjectivenot comparableformal
Acceptable or allowed in a particular situation or system.
Grammar: More formal than 'acceptable'; often used in official or technical contexts.
Patterns
- admissible for something
- admissible under the rules
The application is admissible under the new rules.
Such behavior is not admissible in a professional setting.
Is this claim admissible for insurance purposes?
Common combinations
- admissible evidence
- The lawyer argued that the DNA sample was admissible evidence.
- admissible in court
- Recordings made without consent are often not admissible in court.
- legally admissible
- The contract is not legally admissible without a witness.
- admissible as evidence
- The emails were admitted as evidence.
Synonyms and how they differ
- allowable
- Allowable means permitted by rules, but it is less technical and not restricted to legal contexts.
- permissible
- Permissible means allowed by a rule or law; it is more general and can describe actions, not just evidence.
- valid
- Valid means legally or officially acceptable, often for documents or arguments, while admissible focuses on whether something can be considered.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: admissible or admissive? admissible or permissible?
admissible vs admissive
Admissive is rare and means 'tending to admit', while admissible means 'allowed to be considered'.
admissible vs permissible
Permissible is a general word for 'allowed', but admissible is the specific legal term for evidence a court can accept.
Practice
Choose the correct word: The judge said the witness's statement was not ______ because it was based on rumor.
Choose one answer.
The sentence needs an adjective meaning 'allowed in court', which is 'admissible'. 'Admission' is a noun, and 'admit' is a verb, so they do not fit after 'was not'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “admissible”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.