applicable.

Relevant to a situation and capable of being applied to it appropriately.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• applicable rule
• broadly applicable method

On the page

The exception was not applicable to contracts signed after the policy change.

A method applicable to large samples may perform poorly with sparse observations.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Comparative more applicable; superlative most applicable where gradation is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: analysis, explanation, qualification. Disciplines: general academic writing. Commonness: common.