sueable

IPA/ˈsuː.ə.bəl/
IPA/ˈsuː.ə.bəl/

sueable — adjective

  • sueablepositive
  • sueablercomparative
  • sueablestsuperlative

1. describing a person, company, or other organisation that a court can legally ord

1.形容詞C1
釋義

describing a person, company, or other organisation that a court can legally order to pay compensation to someone they have harmed.

例句

Dr. Amani learned that she was sueable for the damage caused by her surgical error.

sueable for + reason (noun phrase)

Companies that sell unsafe products are often found to be sueable in consumer courts.

found to be sueable — passive construction

同義詞
  • liable

    Broader term that includes debts and contractual responsibility, not just lawsuits

  • accountable

    Focuses on moral or professional responsibility rather than specific legal liability

  • answerable

    More formal register; suggests being responsible to a specific authority or body

反義詞
  • immune

    Legally protected from being sued, often used for governments or diplomats

文法句型

be + sueable

be + found + sueable

be + sueable + for + noun phrase

用法筆記

Almost always used after the verb 'be' (predicatively). The subject is typically a person, company, or other organisation that could be taken to civil court. Distinguish from 'liable', which includes debts and contractual obligations beyond lawsuits.

常見錯誤

❌The broken elevator is sueable.
✅The building owner is sueable because the elevator was broken.
💡Sueable describes the person or organisation responsible, not the object or thing.
❌He was sued by the police for a crime.
✅He was sued by his neighbour for damages to the fence.
💡Sue is used in civil lawsuits, not criminal prosecution.

2. describing a wrong or harmful action that gives someone the legal right to take

2.形容詞C2
釋義

describing a wrong or harmful action that gives someone the legal right to take the person responsible to court.

例句

The judge ruled that the oil spill was a sueable offence under environmental protection laws.

sueable offence + under [law] — statutory basis pattern

Workplace harassment is a sueable action in most countries around the world.

sueable action — common collocation for wrongs

同義詞
  • actionable

    More common legal term for claims or offences that give grounds for a lawsuit

  • prosecutable

    Applies to criminal cases rather than civil lawsuits; narrower in scope

反義詞
  • permissible

    Allowed by law; the opposite of something that can be legally challenged

文法句型

be + sueable

be + sueable + under + law/statute

be + sueable + in + court type

用法筆記

Used predicatively or attributively before nouns such as 'offence', 'action', 'practice', or 'matter'. The subject is always a specific wrong or violation, not a person. This sense is rarer and more technical than sense 1.

常見錯誤

❌The manager was sueable for shouting at staff.
✅Shouting at staff is not usually a sueable offence unless it involves discrimination or harassment.
💡The offence or action itself is sueable; the person is sueable under sense 1.