perishable means liable to perish, especially naturally subject to quick decomposition or decay. It carries an Arena rating of 1771, earned across 47 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, perishable ranks #1,899 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,145 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #2,535 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #4,311 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words.
Why “perishable” is a great word
PERISHABLE — [Adjective] Liable to perish, especially naturally subject to quick decomposition or decay. From Middle English *persishable, perysabyl*, equivalent to *perish* (from Old French *perir*, from Latin *perire* "to pass away, be destroyed") + *-able* (suffix forming adjectives meaning 'capable of, subject to'). First recorded in English in the late 15th century. Unlike "non-perishable," which denotes an engineered resistance to spoilage, or "durable," which implies a stout defiance of wear, perishable confesses an inherent organic fragility. It is the opalescent blush of a peach softening into bruise, the crisp lettuce surrendering to limp translucence, and the milk's sour turn in the morning light—a quiet testament that to be alive is to be in a state of graceful, irrevocable departure.
Etymology
From Middle English *persishable, perysabyl, equivalent to perish + -able. Compare Old French perissable (and modern French périssable).
adj
- Liable to perish, especially naturally subject to quick decomposition or decay.e.g.“perishable goods”
noun
- That which perishes or is short-lived.
- Food that does not keep for long.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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