arguable

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is first recorded only in 1890, and did not appear in the original Old English (up to 1150)D; now it seems indispensable. It is used as an ordinary adverb and as a sentence adverb (qualifying a whole statement). Examples:

Arguably, this is another kind of corruption, but it was in general a very long-range bribery, and it was invariably offered in the guise of friendship—R. M. Sunter, 1986

Vodafone is arguably one of our most successful companies—Sunday Times, 2004.

Arguably is best used in unverifiable contexts that are open to genuine argument and disagreement. In general use it tends to become weakened into a routine 'downtoning' adverb involving little or no argument and hardly more forceful in effect than is 'possibly' or 'perhaps'; as such it is much espoused by those who are unsure of their facts or who may not have the courage of their convictions:

Meet the man with the surname everyone knows, Giorgio Armani, who arguably adorns more bodies worldwide than any other living designer—Clothes Show, 1991.

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adjective

In doubt or dispute: contested, debatable, disputable, doubtful, exceptionable, moot, mootable, problematic, problematical, questionable, uncertain. See certain/uncertain.

adj

Definition: debatable
Antonyms: certain

adj

Definition: tenable
Antonyms: untenable

For a list of words related to arguably, see:

• Reflections and References

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Dansk (Danish)
adj. - som kan drøftes, som kan fremføres som argument

Nederlands (Dutch)
betwistbaar, aantoonbaar, open voor discussie

Français (French)
adj. - contestable, discutable

Deutsch (German)
adj. - anfechtbar, fragwürdig

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - συζητήσιμος

Italiano (Italian)
discutibile, sostenibile

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - discutível, sustentável, questionável, demonstrável, disputável, contestável

Русский (Russian)
спорный

Español (Spanish)
adj. - discutible, defendible

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - omtvistlig, diskutabel

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
可辩论的, 可论证的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 可辯論的, 可論證的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 논의가 가능한

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 議論の余地がある, 論じうる

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) قابل للجدال والنقاش‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮ניתן לוויכוח, פתוח לספק‬

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