Standard Lemma guide

passably

adv · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: P AE1 S AH0 B L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adv

Meaning 1

In a passable fashion; moderately; adequately.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adverb

Meaning 2

to a moderately sufficient extent or degree

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • pretty big
  • pretty bad
  • jolly decent of him
  • the shoes are priced reasonably
  • he is fairly clever with computers

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: reasonably, moderately, pretty, jolly, somewhat, fairly, middling

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English passable Middle English -ly English -ly English passably From passable + -ly.