Drivable
adj.resilient, capableprofessional
What it means
Safe and suitable for travel by car or another road vehicle.
Reach for it when describing a route or surface that vehicles can use successfully
By sunrise, crews had made the clinic road drivable again.
Choose between these
5- everyday
when people can reach a place by the relevant route
not when Accessible can concern walking, disability access, price, or information; it is not road-specific.
- professional
when a route can be followed without becoming blocked or lost
not when Navigable also applies to waterways and information, so it is less precise about road vehicles.
- professional
passable
when a route can be crossed despite damage or poor conditions
not when Passable may allow difficult progress and does not promise safe or comfortable driving.
- formal
motorable
when a route specifically permits travel by motor vehicle
not when Motorable is uncommon in everyday English and can sound bureaucratic.
- formal
traversable
when some means of crossing the terrain is possible
not when Traversable may mean passable on foot and says nothing about vehicle safety.
Said against
3- undrivable
- impassable
- blocked
It naturally appears in
3- drivable road
The survey marked every drivable road leading to the evacuation center.
- remain drivable
Crews salted the bridge so it would remain drivable overnight.
- barely drivable
The track was barely drivable after the second day of rain.
Where this comes from
English has few exact single-word alternatives for a road that is safe and suitable for driving.
- Wiktionary, English adjective, road sense 2: capable of being driven on safely or successfully opens in a new tab · retrieved 2026-07-26
The definition and the example on this page are written here. The dictionaries above ground which meaning is being described, not the wording.