Meaning & use
voidable
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivenot comparablelegallaw
Able to be canceled or made invalid by one party, but valid until that happens.
Grammar: Used to describe agreements, contracts, or legal acts; not used in comparative forms like 'more voidable'.
Patterns
- voidable contract
- voidable agreement
- voidable transaction
The contract was voidable because one party was a minor.
A voidable marriage can be annulled by the court.
The agreement is voidable at the option of the buyer.
Common combinations
- voidable contract
- The judge ruled that the voidable contract could be canceled by the defrauded party.
- voidable title
- The seller had voidable title to the goods, so the buyer could lose ownership.
- voidable preference
- In bankruptcy, a voidable preference is a payment that can be reversed.
Synonyms and how they differ
- rescindable
- Similar meaning but often used for contracts that can be canceled by mutual agreement or by law.
- cancellable
- More general; can refer to any arrangement that can be called off, not just legal ones.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: voidable or void?
voidable vs void
'Void' means the contract is invalid from the beginning, while 'voidable' means it is valid until one party chooses to cancel it.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'voidable' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Voidable' means the contract can be canceled by one party, not that it is automatically void. Option 1 confuses it with 'void'; option 2 is the opposite; option 3 is also wrong because voidable contracts can be canceled.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “voidable”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.