Probable

//ˈpɹɒbəbl̩// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Something that is likely.

    "Four of the 32 251 Ku aircraft turned back, but the other 28 fought for 20 minutes against a reported 100 enemy aircraft, claiming 18 destroyed and five probables."

  2. 2
    an applicant likely to be chosen wordnet
  3. 3
    A person who is likely to appear or do a certain thing.
Adjective
  1. 1
    Likely or most likely to be true.

    "It's probable that it will rain tomorrow."

  2. 2
    Likely to happen.

    "With all the support we have, success is looking probable."

  3. 3
    Supporting, or giving ground for, belief, but not demonstrating.

    "probable evidence"

  4. 4
    Capable of being proved. obsolete
Adjective
  1. 1
    apparently destined wordnet
  2. 2
    likely but not certain to be or become true or real wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
likelypresumptiveverisimilaranticipatableanticipatedapparent

Example

More examples

"It is probable that he will win the speech contest."

Etymology

From Middle English probable, from Old French probable, from Latin probābilis (“that may be proved, credible”), from probāre (“to test, examine”); see probe, probity, prove. Compare recent doublet provable.

Related phrases

probable causeprobable errorprobable cause

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