Meaning & use
eligible
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Meeting the conditions that allow you to take part in something or receive something.
Grammar: Followed by for plus a noun, or to plus a verb: eligible for a grant, eligible to vote.
Patterns
- eligible for something
- eligible to do something
Students under twenty-five are eligible for a discount.
You are eligible to vote once you turn eighteen.
Only full-time employees are eligible for the bonus.
adjectivebefore a nounold-fashioned
Considered suitable or desirable as a marriage partner.
Grammar: Often in the phrase eligible bachelor; old-fashioned.
The novel follows an eligible bachelor in a small town.
Her aunt hoped she would meet an eligible young man.
Common combinations
- eligible for benefits
- Part-time staff are eligible for benefits after six months.
- eligible to vote
- New citizens are eligible to vote in the next election.
- become eligible
- You become eligible for a loan after one year.
- remain eligible
- Athletes must keep their grades up to remain eligible.
- eligible candidate
- She is an eligible candidate for the scholarship.
Synonyms and how they differ
- qualified
- Stresses having the skills or training, while eligible stresses meeting official conditions.
- entitled
- Suggests a right to something, usually followed by to.
- suitable
- Is looser and says nothing about formal requirements.
Opposites
Word family
- eligibility noun
- the state of being eligible
- ineligible adjective
- not allowed or qualified
Commonly confused: eligible or illegible?
eligible vs illegible
Illegible means impossible to read, not unqualified.
Practice
Only residents of the city are ___ the free bus pass.
Choose one answer.
Before a noun, eligible takes for. Eligible to would need a verb after it.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “eligible”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.