Palpable

//ˈpælpəbəl// adj

adj ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Capable of being touched, felt or handled; touchable, tangible.

    "Osric: A hit, a very palpable hit."

  2. 2
    Obvious or easily perceived; noticeable. figuratively

    "Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness,[…]. It was with a palpable relief that he heard the first warning notes of the figure."

  3. 3
    That can be detected by palpation.
Adjective
  1. 1
    so intense as to be almost touched or felt wordnet
  2. 2
    clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment wordnet
  3. 3
    capable of being perceived; especially capable of being handled or touched or felt wordnet
  4. 4
    (medicine) can be felt by palpation wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
apparentperceptibleapparentappreciablearrestingaxiomatic

Example

More examples

"Tom and Mary's love for each other was so strong it was almost palpable."

Etymology

From Middle French palpable and its source, Latin palpābilis, which is from palpō (“to touch softly”) + -bilis.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.