Meaning & use
tangible thing
Last updated
Meanings
phrasecountable
something real that you can touch or feel, not just an idea or feeling
Grammar: Use it as a countable noun phrase: a tangible thing, tangible things.
Patterns
- a tangible thing
- tangible things
A book is a tangible thing, but a story is not.
She wanted a tangible thing to remember the trip by, like a stone from the beach.
In the report, they separated tangible things such as equipment from ideas and plans.
phrasecountableformal
something that clearly exists or can be shown to be real, even if you cannot touch it
Grammar: Often used in business or formal contexts: a tangible thing such as a result or benefit.
Patterns
- a tangible thing such as something
- a tangible thing like something
For the team, the first sale was a tangible thing they could point to.
Trust is not a tangible thing, but you can see its effects.
Word forms
| plural | tangible things |
|---|
Common combinations
- a tangible thing
- He needed a tangible thing to hold on to.
- tangible things
- The museum displays tangible things from the past.
- tangible evidence
- The police found tangible evidence at the scene.
- tangible benefits
- The new law brought tangible benefits to small businesses.
- tangible results
- After months of work, we finally had tangible results.
Synonyms and how they differ
- physical object
- More technical and neutral; it emphasizes that something has material form, while 'tangible thing' stresses that you can touch it.
- concrete thing
- Similar, but 'concrete' contrasts with 'abstract' in meaning; 'tangible' contrasts with 'untouchable' or 'imaginary'.
Opposites
Word family
- tangible adjective
- real and able to be touched or clearly seen
- tangibly adverb
- in a way that can be clearly seen or felt
- tangibility noun
- the quality of being real or able to be touched
Commonly confused: tangible thing or tangle?
tangible thing vs tangle
A different word meaning to twist together or a confused mass; 'tangible' means able to be touched.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'tangible thing' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A smartphone is a real object you can touch, so it is a tangible thing. Option An is wrong because love is not something you can touch or measure with a ruler. Option C uses the wrong word form and grammar. Option D puts the phrase in the wrong position before a noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tangible thing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.