Standard Lemma guide

retractable

adj · noun · 3 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ɹiˈtɹæk.tɪ.bəl/
  • /ɹəˈtɹæk.tə.bəl/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: R IY0 T R AE1 K T AH0 B AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Capable of being retracted; retractile.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A retractable pen.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

capable of being retracted

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • retractable landing gear

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English retract Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *-dhlom Proto-Indo-European *-dhlis Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English retractable From retract + -able.

Across languages

Translations

23 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: retractable — capable of being retracted
  • Chinese Mandarin: 伸缩自如的 — capable of being retracted
  • Finnish: sisäänvedettävä — capable of being retracted
  • French: rétractable — capable of being retracted
  • French: rétractile — capable of being retracted
  • Galician: retractábel — capable of being retracted
  • Galician: retractable — capable of being retracted
  • German: einziehbar — capable of being retracted
  • Greek: ανοιγοκλειόμενος (anoigokleiómenos) — capable of being retracted
  • Ido: retraktebla — capable of being retracted
  • Italian: retrattile — capable of being retracted
  • Italian: rientrabile — capable of being retracted
  • Italian: retraibile — capable of being retracted
  • Italian: ritrattabile — capable of being retracted
  • Manx: yn-chraplaghey — capable of being retracted
  • Manx: yn-hirkaghey — capable of being retracted
  • Manx: yn-yrjaghey — capable of being retracted
  • Occitan: retractable — capable of being retracted
  • Russian: втя́гивающийся (vtjágivajuščijsja) — capable of being retracted
  • Russian: убира́ющийся (ubirájuščijsja) — capable of being retracted
  • Spanish: escamoteable — capable of being retracted
  • Swedish: infällbar — capable of being retracted
  • Swedish: indragbar — capable of being retracted
Real reading context

retractable in complete knowledge articles