Scalable Meaning
/ˈskeɪ.lə.bl̩/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjCapable of being climbed.
adjAble to be changed in scale; resizeable.
Sentence Examples
The system is designed to be highly scalable and fast.
A scalable business can grow without being too expensive.
The startup built a scalable software platform for global clients.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The new server design is ____ because it can easily handle more users over time.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The engineers designed a ____ architecture that could handle millions of users simultaneously.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *skend-der. Proto-Indo-European *(s)kn̥d-sleh₂ Proto-Italic *skand-slā Latin scālabor. Middle English scale English scale Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlis Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English scalable From scale + -able.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"To use one of the ugliest words in the contemporary lexicon, Glasman and his colleagues believe that micro-democracy is scalable: get it right at the local level, and the rest will follow."
— 2011, David Runciman, “Socialism in One Country”, in London Review of Books, XXXIII.15:
"Most systems have a small host table, but it cannot be used for all applications because it is not scalable and does not have a standard method for automatic distribution."
— 2002, Craig Hunt, TCP/IP Network Administration 3rd ed, page 82:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The new server design is ____ because it can easily handle more users over time.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The engineers designed a ____ architecture that could handle millions of users simultaneously.