Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Capable of being steered or directed: Describes something that can be guided or controlled in its course or direction.

2. Noun:

   • A steerable self-propelled aircraft: Specifically refers to a type of lighter-than-air aircraft, an airship, that can be navigated through the air under its own power.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • The new prototype is a highly dirigible drone. (The new prototype is a drone that can be steered very well.)
  • They argued whether the floating platform was truly dirigible in strong currents. (They argued whether the floating platform could actually be steered in strong currents.)

• Noun:

  • The giant dirigible floated silently over the city. (The giant airship floated silently over the city.)
  • Early 20th-century dirigibles, like the Zeppelins, were used for passenger travel. (Early 20th-century airships, like the Zeppelins, were used for passenger travel.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is most commonly and specifically applied to lighter-than-air craft (airships). When used as an adjective for other objects, it is often technical or formal.
  • The concept applies to any dirigible body in a fluid medium. (The concept applies to any body that can be steered in a fluid medium.)

Variants and Related Words

• Dirigibility (n): The quality or state of being steerable.
  • The dirigibility of the vessel in stormy weather was impressive.
• Airships, blimps, and Zeppelins are all types of dirigibles.

Synonyms

• Adjective: Steerable, navigable, guidable, pilotable.
• Noun: Airship, blimp, Zeppelin (a brand name for a type of rigid airship).

Related Phrases

• Dirigible balloon: An older term synonymous with "airship" or "dirigible" (noun).
  • The expedition used a dirigible balloon for Arctic exploration.

Adjective

1. capable of being steered or directed

Noun

1. a steerable self-propelled aircraft