Meaning & use
feasible
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Able to be done or achieved with the money, time and tools available.
Grammar: Before a noun or after be: a feasible plan.
Patterns
- feasible for someone
- it is feasible to do something
Building a bridge here is feasible, but it will be expensive.
It is feasible to finish the project by June.
The committee asked for a feasible budget.
adjectivecomparableformal
Reasonable enough to believe or accept as likely.
Grammar: Applies to explanations or ideas: a feasible story.
Patterns
- a feasible explanation
Her theory is feasible and fits the evidence.
He offered a feasible reason for being late.
Police found the suspect's story feasible at first.
Word forms
| comparative | more feasible |
|---|---|
| superlative | most feasible |
Common combinations
- economically feasible
- The scheme was not economically feasible.
- technically feasible
- A tunnel is technically feasible.
- feasible option
- Moving the office is a feasible option.
- feasible solution
- Engineers are seeking a feasible solution.
- perfectly feasible
- The trip is perfectly feasible in two days.
Synonyms and how they differ
- practicable
- Practicable is more formal and means that a plan can be put into practice, with less sense of cost.
- viable
- Viable adds the idea that something will keep working or surviving, not only that it can be done.
- workable
- Workable is plainer and means a plan that will work in practice.
- possible
- Possible only says something can happen, with no hint that resources are enough.
Opposites
Word family
- feasibility noun
- the state of being possible to do
- feasibly adverb
- in a way that can be done
- unfeasible adjective
- not possible in practice
- infeasible adjective
- impossible to carry out
Commonly confused: feasible or possible? feasible or viable?
feasible vs possible
Possible means can happen; feasible means can realistically be done with the means available.
feasible vs viable
Viable means able to survive or succeed over time; feasible just means doable.
Practice
The engineers say a tunnel is technically ______, but the cost is far too high.
Choose one answer.
Feasible means it can be done in practice, which suits a tunnel that is possible but costly. Fearful, faithful and feeble have different meanings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “feasible”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.