explicable

/ɛkˈsplɪkəbəl/

Other forms: explicably

Can you understand your chemistry teacher's explanation of how to do an experiment? Then it's explicable, able to be comprehended clearly and accurately.

Since the 16th century, the adjective explicable has been used for things that are intelligible or that can be solved. It comes from the Latin explicabilis, "capable of being unraveled," and its root, explicare, "unfold or explain." These days you're most likely to find it in academic or formal writing, not always the most explicable of genres.

Definitions of explicable

1. adjective

   capable of being explicated or accounted for
   “explicable behavior”

   synonyms:

   comprehendible, comprehensible

   capable of being comprehended or understood

   explainable, interpretable

   capable of being understood

   soluble

   susceptible of solution or of being solved or explained

   antonyms:

   inexplicable

   incapable of being explained or accounted for

   incomprehensible, uncomprehensible

   difficult to understand

   cryptic, cryptical, deep, inscrutable, mysterious, mystifying

   of an obscure nature

   paradoxical, self-contradictory

   seemingly contradictory but nonetheless possibly true

   unaccountable, unexplainable

   not to be accounted for or explained

   unexplained

   having the reason or cause not made clear

   insoluble

   admitting of no solution or explanation