contestable.

1. Capable of being disputed or challenged on defensible grounds.

2. Describing a market in which potential competitors can enter and leave with relatively low barriers or sunk costs.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• contestable claim
• contestable interpretation

On the page

The chronology was secure, but the interpretation of motive remained contestable.

A contestable classification should not be presented as an unavoidable fact.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Comparative more contestable; superlative most contestable 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: qualification, argumentation. Disciplines: general academic writing. Commonness: moderately common.