practical, practicable

practical, practicable
A simple method of learning to distinguish the meanings of these words is to turn to the entry impractical and reverse the meanings of the terms involved. When applied to persons, practical means "realistic," "sensible," "efficient"; as relating to acts or processes, practical means "workable," "manageable." Practicable means "capable of being used," "feasible," "possible." "Jim is a man with practical views about business." "What we need is a practical way to solve this problem." "Your idea is clever but hardly practicable." "There is no practicable method of keeping boys and girls away from each other." Basically, what is practicable can be done; what is practical can be done sensibly or usefully. An act can be both practical and practicable: It is practical to check the pressure in one's tires before starting on a trip (it's sensible to do so); it's also practicable to check the pressure (it's possible to do so).

Dictionary of problem words and expressions. . 1975.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • practical / practicable —    Practical refers to being easily used and put into practice: A Swiss Army knife has many practical uses.    Practicable means feasible or possible : It is not always practicable for a busy person to use this tool …   Confused words

  • practical / practicable —    Practical refers to being easily used and put into practice: A Swiss Army knife has many practical uses.    Practicable means feasible or possible : It is not always practicable for a busy person to use this tool …   Confused words

  • practical, practicable —    Anything that can be done and is worth doing is practical. Anything that can be done, whether or not it is worth doing, is practicable …   Dictionary of troublesome word

  • practical, practicable —    Anything that can be done and is worth doing is practical. Anything that can be done, whether or not it is worth doing, is practicable …   Dictionary of troublesome word

  • practical — *practicable …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • practicable — See practical, practicable …   Dictionary of problem words and expressions

  • practical — See practical, practicable …   Dictionary of problem words and expressions

  • practicable — 1 feasible, *possible Analogous words: operating or operable, working or workable, functioning (see corresponding verbs at ACT) Antonyms: impracticable 2 Practicable, practical are not close synonyms and not interchangeable, but they are… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • practicable — practicable, practical Practical usually has a general application, denoting what is possible in practice as distinct from theory, and can also describe a person (‘inclined to action rather than speculation, able to make things work well’),… …   Modern English usage

  • practical — practicable, practical Practical usually has a general application, denoting what is possible in practice as distinct from theory, and can also describe a person (‘inclined to action rather than speculation, able to make things work well’),… …   Modern English usage

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