Viable
adj.capable, hopefulprofessional
Meaning 1
Capable of succeeding under real conditions.
Reach for it when judging whether a plan, option, or organization can work and continue
Shared transport made the rural clinic financially viable.
Choose between these
5- everyday
when real-world convenience is the central test
not when A practical option may still fail for lack of financing or demand.
- everyday
when a plan can be carried out in practice
not when Workable may solve the immediate task without being sustainable over time.
- warm
when early evidence supports cautious hope
not when Promising is prospective and does not show that success is already possible.
- professional
when available resources and constraints permit the action
not when A feasible option may still lack the support or durability needed to be viable.
- professional
when continued operation without exhausting resources matters
not when A sustainable approach may still be politically or technically unviable.
Meaning 2
Able to live, grow, or develop.
Reach for it when describing biological material with the capacity for continued life
The seed bank found that most samples were still viable.
Choose between these
3- everyday
living
when current life rather than future growth is the fact
not when Living material can be damaged or unable to reproduce, so it may not be viable.
- professional
when reproduction or productive growth is the exact capacity
not when Fertile is narrower and does not apply to every viable cell, tissue, or fetus.
- professional
germinable
when a seed can specifically sprout
not when Germinable applies to seeds and spores, not organisms or tissue generally.
Said against
4- unworkable
- untenable
- nonviable
- dead
It naturally appears in
3- viable option
Repair remains a viable option if replacement parts arrive this month.
- commercially viable
The cooperative became commercially viable without raising member fees.
- remain viable
Cool, dry storage helped the rare seeds remain viable.
The word family
2Where this comes from
- Wiktionary, English adjective sense: able to live or succeed opens in a new tab for meaning 1 · retrieved 2026-07-26
- Wiktionary, English adjective sense: capable of living or developing opens in a new tab for meaning 2 · 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.