Meaning & use
purchaseable
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
able to be bought; available to buy with money
Grammar: Used after a linking verb or before a noun: The tickets are purchaseable online.
Patterns
- purchaseable online
- purchaseable at a store
- purchaseable by someone
The new phone will be purchaseable from next Monday.
Gift cards are purchaseable at the front desk.
Some of these items are only purchaseable in person, not online.
adjectivenot comparabledisapproving
able to be obtained by paying money, especially in a way that seems wrong or dishonest
Grammar: Often used to suggest that something that should not be for sale can be bought with money.
Patterns
- purchaseable loyalty
- purchaseable influence
In that system, justice seemed purchaseable.
He believed that true friendship was not purchaseable.
The scandal showed how easily political favors were purchaseable.
Common combinations
- purchaseable online
- The software is purchaseable online and delivered by email.
- purchaseable at
- The passes are purchaseable at any train station.
- purchaseable by
- These upgrades are purchaseable by anyone with an account.
- commercially purchaseable
- The chemical is commercially purchaseable in small quantities.
- freely purchaseable
- In some countries, guns are freely purchaseable.
Synonyms and how they differ
- available
- Available is much more common and general; it can mean ready for use or able to be obtained, not only able to be bought. Purchaseable is narrower and more formal, and it always involves money.
- for sale
- For sale is a common phrase meaning offered to be bought, often used for single items like a house or car. Purchaseable is an adjective that can describe whole categories of goods and sounds more technical or formal.
- buyable
- Buyable is a rarer, more informal word with the same basic meaning. Purchaseable is the more formal choice, especially in business or legal writing.
Word family
Commonly confused: purchaseable or purchasable?
purchaseable vs purchasable
Purchasable is a less common spelling variant of purchaseable. Both are accepted, but purchaseable is the more regular spelling because the base verb ends in -se, which keeps the e before -able.
Practice
Which sentence uses purchaseable correctly?
Choose one answer.
Purchaseable is an adjective meaning 'able to be bought', so it fits after 'are' and can be followed by a place or method: purchaseable online. The other options add extra prepositions or verbs that do not fit the adjective pattern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “purchaseable”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.