predictableadj.
/prᵻˈdɪktəbl/, U.S. /priˈdɪktəb(ə)l/, /prəˈdɪktəb(ə)l/ Able to be predicted or foretold; (of a person) acting in a way that is expected or easy to predict. In later use sometimes with pejorative connotation: tiresomely consistent with expectations, conforming to type, unimaginative.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > [adjective] > capable of being predicted
prognosticable1646
predictable1820
calculable1865
foretellable1912
1820 Monthly Repository Dec. 727/1 What but this certainty, this necessity, can render any event, even such as depends on the free-will of intelligent agents, predictable?
1857 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. I. i. 6 Every generation demonstrates some events to be regular and predictable, which the preceding generation had declared to be irregular and unpredictable.
1889 Voice (N.Y.) 10 Oct. The limit of predictable weather changes varies from two to four days.
1927 F. M. Thrasher Gang i. Introd. 4 Gangs..develop in definite and predictable ways, in accordance with a form or entelechy that is predetermined by characteristic internal processes and mechanisms.
1963 B. Friedan Feminine Mystique xi. 260 Her sexual offerings were so impersonal and predictable that only a newcomer husband would take them seriously enough to respond.
1987 P. Farmer Away from Home (1988) 153 He pays her horrible, predictable compliments (‘Your daughter ma'am—surely you mean your sister’).
2000 Two Twenty Oct. 72/5 In previous years, it has been fairly predictable who would win the overall youth series title by half way through the season.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1820