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Meaning & use

salvageable

adjective·Academic

Last updated

UK/ˈsælvɪdʒəbəl/
US/ˈsælvɪdʒəbəl/

Meanings

  1. adjectivecomparable

    Able to be rescued or kept from something damaged, wrecked or thrown away, because some of it is still useful.

    Grammar: Can stand before a noun or after 'be': a salvageable engine, or the engine is salvageable.

    Patterns

    • be salvageable
    • salvageable from something

    Only a few boxes of books were salvageable after the flood.

    The engineer said the old bridge was no longer salvageable.

    Anything salvageable from the wreck was sold for scrap.

  2. adjectivecomparablefigurative

    Capable of being rescued from failure, so that something good can still come of it.

    Grammar: Often used about plans, marriages, reputations or seasons that seem to be going badly.

    Patterns

    • still salvageable
    • salvageable situation

    The coach believed the season was still salvageable.

    After the argument, she wasn't sure the friendship was salvageable.

    With a few changes, the plan is clearly salvageable.

Common combinations

still salvageable
The deal is still salvageable if both sides compromise.
barely salvageable
The roof was barely salvageable after the fire.
salvageable situation
Is this a salvageable situation, or should we start again?
salvageable parts
The mechanic took the salvageable parts from the car.
no longer salvageable
The crops were no longer salvageable by that stage.

Synonyms and how they differ

recoverable
Recoverable is wider and more neutral, and is often used for money, data or files, while salvageable usually follows damage or near-failure.
repairable
Repairable means something can be fixed to work again, but salvageable only says some of it can be saved, even if it is not mended.
retrievable
Retrievable stresses getting something back from a place or state, with no sense of it being damaged.
redeemable
Redeemable is more often used for people, qualities or promises, suggesting something can be made good again.

Opposites

beyond repairirreparablehopeless

Word family

salvage verb
to save something from loss, damage or destruction
salvage noun
the act of saving property, or the goods saved
salvager noun
a person who salvages goods; also salvor
salvation noun
the act of being saved from harm or loss

Commonly confused: salvageable or savable?

salvageable vs savable

Savable simply means able to be saved, often in a computing or money sense, whereas salvageable means worth rescuing from something damaged or failing.

Practice

After the fire, the owners found that very little of the building was ___.

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