nonboostable
|non-boost-a-ble|
🇺🇸
/nɑnˈbuːstəbl/
🇬🇧
/nɒnˈbuːstəbl/
cannot be boosted / not boostable
Etymology
'nonboostable' originates from modern English, formed by the negative prefix 'non-' + the verb 'boost' + the adjectival suffix '-able'. Here 'non-' (from Latin 'non') means 'not', 'boost' is an English verb meaning 'to increase or raise', and '-able' (from Old French/Latin) means 'capable of'.
'boost' is attested in English from the late 19th century with senses of increasing or promoting; '-able' is a long-established adjectival suffix from Latin-derived Old French; the compound 'nonboostable' is a contemporary English formation created by prefixing 'non-' to 'boostable'.
The compound originally and straightforwardly meant 'not capable of being boosted' and has retained that literal negative meaning in modern usage.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
not able to be boosted; incapable of being increased, enhanced, amplified, or improved (applied to signals, performance, stats, immune responses, etc.).
The network signal in that valley was nonboostable, so calls kept dropping.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/12/10 09:25