TANGIBLE

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does tangible mean? 

• TANGIBLE (adjective)
  The adjective TANGIBLE has 4 senses:

1. perceptible by the senses especially the sense of touch

2. capable of being treated as fact

3. (of especially business assets) having physical substance and intrinsic monetary value

4. capable of being perceived; especially capable of being handled or touched or felt

  Familiarity information: TANGIBLE used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TANGIBLE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Perceptible by the senses especially the sense of touch

Synonyms:

tangible; touchable

Context example:

skin with a tangible roughness

Similar:

tactile; tactual (producing a sensation of touch)

Also:

concrete (capable of being perceived by the senses; not abstract or imaginary)

Antonym:

intangible (incapable of being perceived by the senses especially the sense of touch)

Derivation:

tangibility; tangibleness (the quality of being perceivable by touch)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Capable of being treated as fact

Synonyms:

real; tangible

Context example:

his brief time as Prime Minister brought few real benefits to the poor

Similar:

concrete (capable of being perceived by the senses; not abstract or imaginary)

Derivation:

tangibleness (the quality of being perceivable by touch)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(of especially business assets) having physical substance and intrinsic monetary value

Context example:

tangible assets such as machinery

Similar:

real ((of property) fixed or immovable)

realizable (capable of being realized)

Domain category:

business; business enterprise; commercial enterprise (the activity of providing goods and services involving financial and commercial and industrial aspects)

Antonym:

intangible ((of especially business assets) not having physical substance or intrinsic productive value)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Capable of being perceived; especially capable of being handled or touched or felt

Synonyms:

palpable; tangible

Context example:

a palpable lie

Also:

perceptible (capable of being perceived by the mind or senses)

Derivation:

tangibility; tangibleness (the quality of being perceivable by touch)

 Context examples 

The only tangible fact was that the commissionnaire’s wife—Mrs. Tangey was the name—had hurried out of the place.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I think that there was probably some more tangible cause.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The value of life? How could I put a tangible value upon it?

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

On every side was the silence, pressing upon them with a tangible presence.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Here at last was tangible corroboration.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A morphologic variant of Burkitt lymphoma characterized by marked nuclear pleomorphism, abundant apoptotic debris, and the presence of tangible body macrophages.

(Atypical Burkitt/Burkitt-Like Lymphoma, NCI Thesaurus)

Anything like a tangible reproach gave me courage at once.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Sometimes he pursued the call into the forest, looking for it as though it were a tangible thing, barking softly or defiantly, as the mood might dictate.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Is it that there is something in the essence of the thing itself, or that it is a medium, a tangible help, in conveying memories of sympathy and comfort?

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

She looked forward to our union with placid contentment, not unmingled with a little fear, which past misfortunes had impressed, that what now appeared certain and tangible happiness might soon dissipate into an airy dream and leave no trace but deep and everlasting regret.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)