Words / C1

VEYE-uh-bl/ˈvaɪəbl/

Viable means able to work successfully in practice — a plan, a product, a pregnancy in medical English. Native writers contrast viable with possible (thinkable) and with feasible (doable given constraints; very close). A viable alternative must actually function, not merely exist on paper. Viability is the noun. Non-viable is the opposite.

Meaning

Able to work successfully.

Examples

• “That plan is not viable without more staff.”
• “Without a translator, the interview design is not viable.”
• “They dropped two ideas that were interesting but not viable.”

Good to know

viable = workable in practice. possible = can be imagined. Close: feasible. Noun: viability.

Near in meaning

feasible

New