🏆 Likely to win ✅ Allowed to run

electable

1 4.6

Allowed by law to be chosen for a public office

adjective
/ɪˈlɛktəbl/

Formal

: elegible

Newt would be my guy, but the Clintons ruin him, and he, like Romney, is not electable.

Examples

He's not electable; therefore, concentrate on the former mayor of NYC, Rudy Giuliani, the least likable and least trustworthy of them all in both parties.

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I am a lifelong Republican and will never vote Democrat, and I think McCain is not only the finest candidate out there, but the only electable one as well.

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As an agnostic, I belong to the only segment of the population considered less electable for public office in this country than gay people, and seeing that Melissa picked a moment of great emotional distress to reinforce that sentiment on last night's show is saddening.

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Many candidates struggle to become electable in a competitive political environment.
After much debate, the committee decided that the recent nominee was indeed electable for the upcoming election.
Her experience and public support made her one of the most electable candidates this year.

Synonyms

votable

vselectable

5.8

Able to be chosen by vote as a candidate

is limited to legal eligibility for public office, not any option chosen by vote

selectable

vselectable

4.2

Can be chosen for a team or job because of skill

focuses on legal permission for public office, not selection by merit

Antonyms

ineligible

4.2

A person not allowed to do or get something because of the rules

Surface Forms

electable positive

Morphology

electable = elect (transparent) = elect + able

Direct, literal formation 'elect' + '-able' meaning 'able to be elected' (eligible or legally allowed to be chosen).

Etymology

Electable comes from elect ('to choose') plus the ending -able ('able to be'), the same root as election. So, for the second sense, someone who is electable is 'able to be chosen' for public office because the law allows it.