Meaning & use
ponderable
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Meanings
adjectivecomparableformal
Having real weight or importance that can be measured or seriously considered.
Grammar: Can be used before a noun (a ponderable issue) or after a linking verb (the issue is ponderable).
Patterns
- a ponderable amount
- a ponderable question
- something is ponderable
The committee decided that the evidence was ponderable and deserved a full review.
In physics, a ponderable body is one that has mass and can be weighed.
Her argument raised a ponderable question about fairness.
adjectivenot comparabletechnicalphysics
In physics, having mass and therefore able to be affected by gravity.
Grammar: Used mostly before a noun in technical writing; it is not usually compared.
Patterns
- ponderable matter
- a ponderable substance
Nineteenth-century scientists distinguished ponderable matter from the ether.
The experiment measured the gravitational pull of a ponderable object.
Word forms
| comparative | more ponderable |
|---|---|
| superlative | most ponderable |
Common combinations
- ponderable matter
- Early physicists believed light was not made of ponderable matter.
- a ponderable question
- The judge asked a ponderable question that made everyone think.
- ponderable evidence
- The lawyer presented ponderable evidence to support her case.
Synonyms and how they differ
- weighty
- Weighty is more common and can mean both heavy and serious; ponderable is rarer and more technical.
- significant
- Significant means important or large enough to matter; ponderable stresses that something can be weighed or seriously considered.
Opposites
Word family
- ponder verb
- To think about something carefully.
- ponderously adverb
- In a slow, heavy, or dull way.
Commonly confused: ponderable or imponderable?
ponderable vs imponderable
Imponderable means impossible to measure or understand; ponderable means the opposite—able to be weighed or considered.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'ponderable' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Ponderable means having real weight or importance that can be considered, so 'testimony ponderable' fits. The balloon is not ponderable because it floats; 'felt ponderable' is not a natural use; and 'pond was too ponderable' confuses the word with 'deep' or 'murky'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ponderable”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.