predictablepre‧dict‧a‧ble /prɪˈdɪktəbəl/ ●●○ AWL adjective 
Examples
The snow had a predictable effect on traffic. an entertaining but predictable film Logan’s reaction was predictable.—predictably adverb [sentence adverb]: Predictably, no one was home when I called.—predictability /prɪˌdɪktəˈbɪləti/ noun [uncountable]
ExamplesEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- Horror movies can be so predictable.
- In the current economic climate it is fairly predictable that unemployment will continue to rise.
- My dad's so predictable - every evening he comes home, has two beers, and falls asleep in front of the TV.
- The drug is usually effective but unfortunately the side effects are not always predictable.
- The movie was completely predictable - I couldn't wait for it to end.
- There are few predictable elements to this conflict -- the only certainty is that the situation will worsen before it gets better.
- Atkinson wanted the commands to be geographically predictable, the same place in every application.
- But in actuality, disambiguation is not unprincipled and random; rather, it is usually quite predictable.
- I looked at her, I go, am I that predictable?
- Norden said the predictable schedule at the Wal-Mart center should be attractive to over-the-road drivers.
- The end twist clicks into place in a satisfying, if slightly predictable, way.
- The notes are sadly predictable, however, in their dogmatism.
- The Panthers' offense is fairly predictable, and the 49ers spent the offseason studying their defense.
- This was predictable, though, looking back at historical evidence relating to a Friday Christmas.
Longman Language Activatorwhen things happens in the way you expected► as expected
Collocations if something happens as expected , it happens exactly in the way that people expected it to happen: · As expected, the three men were sentenced to life imprisonment.· Tulsa beat New Mexico as expected in last night's game.as was/had been expected: · Yesterday, as had been expected, the government announced its intention to launch a public enquiry.
► be no surprise/come as no surprise if something that happens is no surprise or comes as no surprise , it is exactly as you expected, so you are not surprised by it: · After a series of scandals, Fleischman's resignation comes as no surprise.be no surprise/come as no surprise to: · Tina was shocked when she heard she was not being promoted, but it came as no surprise to the rest of us.be/come as no great surprise: · The fact that Brown has decided to run for reelection comes as no great surprise.it is/comes as no surprise that: · It's no surprise that Jeff and his wife are getting divorced.be no surprise/come as no surprise to hear/discover/find etc: · It was no surprise to hear that Joel had messed the whole thing up again.
► predictable happening as you expect - use this especially about someone's behaviour, when you think they are boring or stupid because they always do exactly what you expect: · My dad's so predictable - every evening he comes home, has two beers, and falls asleep in front of the TV.· The movie was completely predictable - I couldn't wait for it to end.
► be only to be expected if something, especially something bad or unpleasant, is only to be expected , it is what you should expect in that situation: · A few mistakes were only to be expected when you're cooking something for the first time.it is only to be expected that: · When you're over 60, it's only to be expected that you can't do as much as you used to.
► be par for the course to be what you would normally expect to happen in a particular situation: · If you want to be a politician, a little criticism is par for the course.· It seems in some of those countries that political torture and assassination are par for the course.
► I'm not surprised spoken say this when something happens that you expected to happen: · I'm not surprised she left him - look at the way he treated her!· Of course I'm disappointed that we lost, but I'm not really surprised.
able to be predicted► predictable · The drug is usually effective but unfortunately the side effects are not always predictable.· There are few predictable elements to this conflict -- the only certainty is that the situation will worsen before it gets better.it is predictable that · In the current economic climate it is fairly predictable that unemployment will continue to rise.
► foreseeable able to be predicted within a particular period of time in the future: · Due to rising costs and delays in the delivery of equipment, losses are already foreseeable on the new tunnel project.in the foreseeable future: · There will not be any redundancies in the foreseeable future.foreseeable circumstances: · Your insurance policy should take into account all foreseeable circumstances.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB► as
Word family· Governments should aim to make their policy instruments as predictable as possible soas to minimize confusion and hence undesirable fluctuations in output.· The review: Vitale sightings at this time of the year are as predictable as receiving fruitcake at Christmas.· The last round can therefore be written off as predictable.· The effect of chronic alcohol abuse on gastric acid secretion is not as predictable.
► entirely· According to current theories, all of this is entirely predictable, depending solely upon the distance the Earth is from the Sun.· The amount of delegation that occurs is thus highly variable and seldom entirely predictable.· The reasons are, of course, entirely predictable.· The development of alliances Neither bloc was monolithic nor entirely predictable at the outset.· The fact that there was resistance to these proposals was entirely predictable.
► fairly· Where such chains exist, an apparently random journey through a network becomes a fairly predictable matter.· Some people respond to the cycle of failure and depression in fairly predictable ways.· He was fairly predictable except in one important respect.· The Panthers' offense is fairly predictable, and the 49ers spent the offseason studying their defense.· That was all fairly predictable, and unlikely to prove of lasting damage.· He began his speech in fairly predictable, George Bush style, slow and a bit boring.· Here no language is presented in the programme, but the situations mimed are ones where the language would be fairly predictable.· Economic perceptions were fairly predictable in the Pre-Campaign Wave and became more so towards the end of the campaign.
► highly· In one condition, the target word was highly predictable from the context.· In both cases, the results are at first glance highly predictable.· Their movements are therefore highly predictable, which gives tidal power a distinct advantage over many other renewable energy forms.· The timing of showers is highly predictable: from year to year meteor showers occur on the same dates.· Everyday experience is generally highly predictable and so rarely offers such surprises.· For this we need material which provides as much visual support as possible and situations where the language is highly predictable.
► less· The harmonic language has become more complex, less predictable, too.· Chaotic mechanisms could also serve to make a population less predictable to a predator.· Relative preferences for the Alliance were much less predictable than for Labour or Conservative. 2.· This means that the performance of human systems tends to be far more variable and less predictable than that of mechanical systems.· Volatility increased, and the extent as well as the direction of change became less predictable.· And yet, all of these attempts have only made for a less predictable existence.· At the time the critics were less predictable.· His afternoons were much less predictable, and that was also when the bulk of Karen's contact hours were timetabled.
► more· Perceptions of Labour chances remained more predictable, though they too became rather more homogeneous as the campaign came to an end.· Moreover, they removed any information from the files that might make their work more predictable.· Natural yeasts are killed with chemicals, and a more predictable yeast added.· This is a much more predictable menace, however, at least to those in major league baseball.· But other environmental changes are more predictable.· The result should be health care that is more predictable and efficient.· The big A Corner of Old Paris, 1926 is a more predictable pastel with its calm serenity and attention to detail.· Sometimes the emphasis on gender politics sounds more predictable or heavy handed.
► most· The most predictable usefulness ratings were those for PEBs.· The most predictable compensation is the hyperventilation that occurs in simple metabolic acidosis.· The Carrera 4 on damp surfaces is probably the fastest and most predictable car in the world.· The most predictable event in our world is change.
► so· His criticisms have become so predictable and strongly worded that they are counter-productive.· But their characters are so mass-produced and their actions so predictable that the whole thing smells like an old cedar chest.· They use a business language that is so predictable and going out and doing it is not part of the course.· It was not quite so predictable that he would become one of the most addicted poker players in town.· It is so predictable as to be almost inevitable.· The interchange is so predictable that it is almost a ritual.· It was at once reassuring and depressing to find life's major events so predictable in their repetition.· His own life had been so sheltered, so steady, so predictable.
► too· Work bored her - it was too predictable.· It is too predictable, too easy to draw up, too safe.· Resolute Of late they have simply become too predictable when seeking the back of the net.· Then again, perhaps a scaled down 5-series would have been too predictable.· There is fun to be had in Ferguson's dismantling of illusions, but sometimes the candidates for dismissal are too predictable.· In these circumstances, the conclusions of the Committee were all too predictable.
► very· When this point is reached, currency values have to change in a very predictable manner.· What sets these patients off is often something very predictable.· This is becoming a very predictable recommendation.
NOUN► consequence· Nevertheless, the artificial fluoridation of a community water supply does have certain predictable consequences.
► pattern· Hoe many of us could 7 survive for long without some predictable pattern or regularity in our lives?· It was another violent shift in a life and a career which never had an even, an easy or predictable pattern.· But is there a predictable pattern behind their panache?· Many of these exchanges followed a predictable pattern.· What happens to those who step outside the predictable patterns and regularities?· The gender distribution also followed a predictable pattern, with the overwhelming majority, 85 percent, being male.· The passengers drifted in from their rooms and the dome car and fell into by now predictable patterns of seating.· I noted in chapter 1 that the contemporary evidence suggests predictable patterns of the flow of support between generations.
► result· The whole effect is as if an aftermarket body-kit specialist has had a go at embellishing a 911, with the predictable result.· This organized feeding of the media produced predictable results.· The violence on May Day was the direct and predictable result of the absence of boundaries and the abdication of responsibility.· Louis and New Orleans are all starting over this season with new coaches, with predictable results.· We now know that scientific management had a predictable result.
► way· Most disaster aid will continue to go to road building, housing and relocating people out of harm's predictable way.· Some people respond to the cycle of failure and depression in fairly predictable ways.· As he varied the position of the food source, the dance varied in a predictable way.· The toddlers react to a visitor in predictable ways.· Cooking huge meals was another predictable way she had of showing love for her family.· They concluded that people as a whole react to events and to social and economic changes in reasonable and predictable ways.· According to their particular view of life, individuals always act in an orderly and predictable way.· And just like individual people, organizations develop predictable ways of responding to challenge and change.
► ways· Bureaucratic control binds individuals through incentives and disincentives to behave in predictable ways.· Some people respond to the cycle of failure and depression in fairly predictable ways.· The toddlers react to a visitor in predictable ways.· They concluded that people as a whole react to events and to social and economic changes in reasonable and predictable ways.· And just like individual people, organizations develop predictable ways of responding to challenge and change.· That is, events might not have continued behaving in the regular and predictable ways that could be described by such laws.
WORD FAMILYnounpredictionpredictability ≠ unpredictabilitypredictoradjectivepredictable ≠ unpredictablepredictiveverbpredictadverbpredictably ≠ unpredictably
if something or someone is predictable, you know what will happen or what they will do – sometimes used to show disapproval: The snow had a predictable effect on traffic. an entertaining but predictable film Logan’s reaction was predictable.—predictably adverb [sentence adverb]: Predictably, no one was home when I called.—predictability /prɪˌdɪktəˈbɪləti/ noun [uncountable]