Word family noun acceptance adjective acceptable ≠ unacceptable accepted verb accept adverb acceptably ≠ unacceptably
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishacceptableac‧cept‧a‧ble /əkˈseptəbəl/ ●●○ S3 W3 adjective 1 LET/ALLOWgood enough to be used for a particular purpose or to be considered satisfactoryacceptable to an agreement which is acceptable to all sides Students who achieve an acceptable standard will progress to degree studies. How do we reach an acceptable level of data security?► see thesaurus at satisfactory2 ACCEPTacceptable behaviour is considered to be morally or socially good enough Alcohol is not an acceptable way out of your problems. Here, the students set the standards for acceptable behaviour.acceptable (for somebody) to do something It is not socially acceptable for parents to leave children unattended at that age. It is perfectly acceptable to sample the food before you buy. —acceptably adverb —acceptability /əkˌseptəˈbɪləti/ noun [uncountable]Examples from the Corpus
acceptable• We had a lot of applicants for the job but only a few of them were acceptable.• Smoking is no longer considered socially acceptable by many people.• He also expressed optimism that an acceptable constitutional arrangement could be agreed which would obviate the need for Quebec to seek independence.• Even this is not always an acceptable defence, I should add.• Some low-fat cheeses have quite an acceptable flavour but some taste like rubber.• This kind of banter, needless to say, is not acceptable flirting behavior.• Internet Explorer, the company says, is an acceptable, integrated part of the Windows system.• A Levy-Jennings quality control chart is a graphic representation of the acceptable limits of variation in the results of an analytic method.• To obtain acceptable quality when scanning photographs, at least 64 grey scales are required.• There may be sincerely held differences concerning the level of acceptable risk.• It's a cheap and acceptable substitute for rubber.• The dispute was settled in a way that was acceptable to both sides.acceptable to• The dispute was settled in a way that was acceptable to both sides.acceptable way• How, then, can the informal interview be used in sociology in an acceptable way?• One of the more intractable problems was how to dispose of the effluent in an ecologically acceptable way.• Still, wasn't that also unimportant, although in a less acceptable way?• Norms defining acceptable ways for settling an argument or dispute usually exclude physical violence and manslaughter.• But they also show that there is wide disagreement about what is considered to be an acceptable way forward.• Having no acceptable way of expressing their feelings directly, they probably vented them on nature.• Individuals may see alcohol as an acceptable way out of their problems. 