Dictionary

estimable en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈɛstɪməbəl/

Etymology

From Middle English estimable, estymable, from Old French estimable, from Latin aestimābilis. Equivalent to esteem + -able and estimate + -able.

Meanings

1. Worthy of esteem; admirable.
   • Francesca Bassington sat in the drawing-room of her house in Blue Street, W., regaling herself and her estimable brother Henry with China tea and small cress sandwiches. 1912, Saki [pseudonym; Hector Hugh Munro], chapter I, in The Unbearable Bassington, London: John Lane, The Bodley Head; New York, N.Y.: John Lane Company; […], →OCLC, page 9:
   • For all this, the worn collodion image gracing his memoirs shows a man of estimable appearance in a sober woolen suit and brocade waistcoat. 2008, Harriet A. Washington, “Profitable Wonders”, in Medical Apartheid, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, page 52:
   • Mr. March told […]how devoted Brooke had been, and how he was altogether a most estimable and upright young man. 1868–1869, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, Little Women: […], (please specify |part=1 or 2), Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC:
   • [Homer] allows their characters such estimable qualities as could consist, and in truth generally do, with tender frailties. 1715–1720, Homer, “Book VI”, in Alexander Pope, transl., The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, section footnote:
   • Near-synonyms: esteemed, revered
2. (archaic) Valuable.
   • A pound of man's flesh taken from a man Is not so estimable, profitable neither, As flesh of muttons, beefs, or goats. c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
3. Capable of being estimated; estimatable.
   • After this time boric acid is always present in estimable amounts. 1928, Louis Kahlenberg, Norbert Barwasser, “On the time of Absorption and Excretion of Boric Acid in Man”, in Journal of Biological Chemistry, volume 79, number 2, page 406:
   • In this section we review the recent theory that generates an estimable Phillips curve relation. 1999, Jordi Galí, Mark Gertler, “Inflation dynamics: A structural econometric analysis”, in Journal of Monetary Economics, volume 44, page 198:

Forms

Deriveds

unestimable · inestimable · estimably · estimableness

Synonyms

prizable · laudable · honorable · worthly · estimable · commendable · valuable · treasurous · praiseworthy · revered · worthy · creditable · reverable · respectable · estimable · venerable · allowable · estimable · worth every penny · worthy · admirable · creditable · reverend · valuable · reverend · glorious · venerable · prizable · esteemed