Definition

Adjective: Describes something (typically something undesirable or harmful) that can be stopped from happening or can be avoided through prior action or intervention.

Usage

The word "preventable" is used to qualify negative events, conditions, or outcomes, emphasizing that they did not have to occur because the means to stop them existed. It often carries an implicit critique or a call to action, suggesting that the occurrence was due to a failure to take appropriate measures.

Examples

• Many childhood diseases are now preventable through vaccination.
• The report highlighted that a significant number of traffic fatalities are preventable.
• It's a tragic and entirely preventable accident.
• She argued that much of the environmental damage was preventable.

Advanced Usage

• "preventable cause": A specific reason for an undesirable outcome that could have been averted.
  • Smoking is a leading preventable cause of death worldwide.
• "largely preventable" / "entirely preventable": Phrases used to stress the degree to which something could have been avoided.
  • Experts agree that these health complications are largely preventable with early screening.

Variants and Related Words

• Prevent (verb): To stop something from happening or to stop someone from doing something.
  • Regular exercise can help prevent heart disease.
• Prevention (noun): The action of stopping something from happening.
  • The focus of the new policy is accident prevention.
• Preventive (also preventative) (adjective): Designed to stop something undesirable from occurring.
  • He takes preventive medication for migraines.

Synonyms

• Avoidable
• Avertible
• Stoppable

Antonyms

• Inevitable
• Unavoidable
• Inescapable

Related Phrases and Concepts

• "Preventable disease": A standard public health term for illnesses that can be thwarted by measures like vaccines, sanitation, or lifestyle changes.
  • Polio is now a preventable disease.
• "Preventable harm": Often used in medical, safety, or legal contexts to describe injury or damage that should not have occurred given proper care or precautions.
  • The hospital is reviewing cases of potential preventable harm to patients.

Adjective

1. capable of being prevented
   • conscious of preventable human suffering- A.L.Guerard