almost always "able to be unlocked". "not able to be locked" is usually "non-lockable" or "not lockable".
this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2026
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both, but not at the same time. words change meaning with context. thats why there often are several definitions of a single word.
Unconceivable.
You keep saying that word. I don't think it means what you think it means.
Are we just making up language rules as we go?
Yes, throughout history, in fact.
And to answer the meme's question, it can have either definition based on the context of usage.
Unlock-able versus un-lockable
Sokath, his eyes uncoverable.
The issue is the fact that the opposite action of locking is called unlocking and not something like delocking.
Can we discern via stress?
UNlockable - can be opened.
unLOCKable - cannot be locked
If you can't unlock it, is it really a lock?
Bro solved it using philosophy. Actually the smartest thing I’ve seen on this platform so far
Non-lockable feels like the right term.
'Un-' directly implies undoing, an action. 'Non-' implies a status, a non-possibility.
That's my two cents.
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You are able to undo the locking. It's almost like reading comprehension is shit nowadays.
un-lockable implies it is unable to be locked.
unlock-able implies that it is able to be unlocked.
It's a homonym.
Ahh, I've been speaking english for over a decade, and I still sometimes get caught up with these and say the opposite thing of what I want
Like the whole thing of flammable and inflammable meaning the same thing.. just why?
"flammable" actually has an interesting story:
Since 1980s use of the word, especially in safety warnings, has been sometimes discouraged lest it be misunderstood as "non-flammable" through confusion of the two prefixes in-.
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making up the rules as we go
You seem unaware at how, while French is steered by a committee of linguists, English is steered by a mob of autofellatic influencerati fame-whores, all looking for differentiation and trends to manufacture. So fetch.
Stop trying to make fetch happen.
The Académie Française is absolutely not a "committee of linguists". They're a bunch of rich conservatives who are way too high on nationalism, and they are infamous for going against the consensus of linguists (who they supposedly consult).
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Let me present to you a genre-classic from Germany:
umFAHREN -> to drive around something or somebody.
UMfahren -> to drive against something or somebody in a way it/they fall over.
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Curse you! 🙃
Literally yes, we are.
Cause language is a toolkit to communicate ideas, and a toolkit frozen in glass is a useless toolkit.
You need to swap out that hammer when it starts getting damaged, or put back a screwdriver when you find out you need it again, or add new tools when you find that the tools you have now aren't fit to purpose.
And sure, there's some loose screws at the bottom of the bag, but they don't harm anything, and very occasionally they come in useful.
Depends on the cawntex
Yep. Language can be funny like that. You are either modifying the adjective "lockable" with the prefix "un-", or you are modifying the verb "unlock" into an adjective by adding "-able" at the end. Words can have multiple definitions, yay!
could be both
maybe it's a homonym
At the end, both are the same.
You end up with something that isn't locked.
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Why would unlockable mean able to be unlocked?
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