What Does Enabling Mean?

Term » DefinitionWord in DefinitionTranslations #ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Random New Words Term Word in Definition Translations

Vocabulary

What does enabling mean?

Definitions for enablingɛnˈeɪ blɪŋen·abling

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word enabling.

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. enablingadjective

   providing legal power or sanction

   "an enabling resolution"; "enabling power"

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Enabling

   In psychotherapy and mental health, enabling has a positive sense of empowering individuals, or a negative sense of encouraging dysfunctional behavior.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. enabling

   Enabling is the act of supporting or facilitating someone's negative or harmful behavior, often out of a sense of love, compassion, or a desire to protect them. It involves enabling someone to continue their destructive habits or addiction, shielding them from the consequences of their actions, and preventing them from learning to take responsibility for their behavior. Enabling ultimately hinders personal growth, recovery, and accountability for the individual involved.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Enabling

   of Enable

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Enabling

   Enabling is a term with a double meaning. As a positive term, it references patterns of interaction which allow individuals to develop and grow. These may be on any scale, for example within the family, or in wider society as "Enabling acts" designed to empower some group, or create a new authority for a body. In a negative sense, enabling is also used in the context of problematic behavior, to signify dysfunctional approaches that are intended to help but in fact may perpetuate a problem. A common theme of enabling in this latter sense is that third parties take responsibility, blame, or make accommodations for a person's harmful conduct. The practical effect is that the person himself or herself does not have to do so, and is shielded from awareness of the harm it may do, and the need or pressure to change. It is a major environmental cause of addiction. A common example of enabling can be observed in the relationship between the alcoholic/addict and a codependent spouse. The spouse believes incorrectly that he or she is helping the alcoholic by calling into work for them, making excuses that prevent others from holding them accountable, and generally cleaning up the mess that occurs in the wake of their impaired judgment. In reality what the spouse is doing is hurting, not helping. Enabling prevents psychological growth in the person being enabled and can contribute to negative symptoms in the enabler.

Editors ContributionRate this definition:1.0 / 1 vote

1. enablingverb

   Verb form of the word enable.

   The enabling factor was love.

   Submitted by MaryC on March 4, 2020

Usage in printed sourcesFrom:

1. [["1505","1"],["1515","8"],["1572","1"],["1574","1"],["1575","5"],["1581","3"],["1620","3"],["1628","1"],["1637","1"],["1647","2"],["1648","2"],["1649","3"],["1650","1"],["1658","1"],["1659","2"],["1660","2"],["1664","1"],["1668","8"],["1669","1"],["1670","1"],["1672","1"],["1676","6"],["1680","15"],["1681","7"],["1682","56"],["1683","25"],["1684","2"],["1685","6"],["1686","1"],["1687","1"],["1688","17"],["1689","3"],["1690","2"],["1692","2"],["1693","3"],["1694","2"],["1696","5"],["1697","1"],["1698","7"],["1699","3"],["1700","12"],["1701","2"],["1702","6"],["1703","26"],["1704","9"],["1705","41"],["1706","22"],["1707","11"],["1708","27"],["1709","20"],["1710","21"],["1711","13"],["1712","21"],["1713","8"],["1714","9"],["1715","25"],["1716","44"],["1717","25"],["1718","21"],["1719","7"],["1720","24"],["1721","29"],["1722","37"],["1723","13"],["1724","32"],["1725","44"],["1726","32"],["1727","14"],["1728","34"],["1729","19"],["1730","14"],["1731","33"],["1732","29"],["1733","18"],["1734","27"],["1735","28"],["1736","36"],["1737","36"],["1738","38"],["1739","30"],["1740","33"],["1741","34"],["1742","24"],["1743","18"],["1744","59"],["1745","19"],["1746","21"],["1747","89"],["1748","33"],["1749","23"],["1750","93"],["1751","48"],["1752","89"],["1753","90"],["1754","39"],["1755","99"],["1756","25"],["1757","73"],["1758","59"],["1759","127"],["1760","63"],["1761","83"],["1762","37"],["1763","97"],["1764","66"],["1765","41"],["1766","107"],["1767","80"],["1768","104"],["1769","41"],["1770","86"],["1771","59"],["1772","93"],["1773","114"],["1774","143"],["1775","61"],["1776","98"],["1777","82"],["1778","105"],["1779","83"],["1780","63"],["1781","39"],["1782","78"],["1783","74"],["1784","76"],["1785","145"],["1786","119"],["1787","327"],["1788","229"],["1789","142"],["1790","195"],["1791","171"],["1792","185"],["1793","241"],["1794","201"],["1795","209"],["1796","339"],["1797","234"],["1798","265"],["1799","234"],["1800","359"],["1801","514"],["1802","657"],["1803","493"],["1804","626"],["1805","868"],["1806","518"],["1807","680"],["1808","556"],["1809","716"],["1810","870"],["1811","1147"],["1812","902"],["1813","838"],["1814","821"],["1815","950"],["1816","971"],["1817","1087"],["1818","1467"],["1819","931"],["1820","1447"],["1821","1108"],["1822","1653"],["1823","1192"],["1824","1524"],["1825","1565"],["1826","1616"],["1827","1521"],["1828","1777"],["1829","1888"],["1830","2041"],["1831","2415"],["1832","1977"],["1833","2147"],["1834","2040"],["1835","2368"],["1836","2563"],["1837","2312"],["1838","2572"],["1839","2813"],["1840","2820"],["1841","2503"],["1842","2398"],["1843","2888"],["1844","2700"],["1845","2658"],["1846","2862"],["1847","2764"],["1848","3182"],["1849","2989"],["1850","2980"],["1851","3634"],["1852","3575"],["1853","4279"],["1854","3933"],["1855","3749"],["1856","4068"],["1857","3634"],["1858","3663"],["1859","4316"],["1860","3875"],["1861","2942"],["1862","2771"],["1863","2648"],["1864","3328"],["1865","3701"],["1866","3859"],["1867","3895"],["1868","3698"],["1869","3565"],["1870","3388"],["1871","3469"],["1872","4195"],["1873","4058"],["1874","4282"],["1875","3852"],["1876","4335"],["1877","4238"],["1878","3949"],["1879","3774"],["1880","4819"],["1881","4705"],["1882","4920"],["1883","6492"],["1884","5572"],["1885","5363"],["1886","4438"],["1887","5098"],["1888","4909"],["1889","4790"],["1890","4897"],["1891","5397"],["1892","5412"],["1893","5456"],["1894","5463"],["1895","5635"],["1896","6083"],["1897","5810"],["1898","6466"],["1899","6528"],["1900","7036"],["1901","6802"],["1902","7694"],["1903","7276"],["1904","8274"],["1905","8360"],["1906","8353"],["1907","8106"],["1908","8214"],["1909","7601"],["1910","7915"],["1911","8057"],["1912","8474"],["1913","7974"],["1914","7438"],["1915","7363"],["1916","6994"],["1917","6708"],["1918","6361"],["1919","6953"],["1920","8929"],["1921","7507"],["1922","8724"],["1923","6796"],["1924","6392"],["1925","5989"],["1926","6166"],["1927","6642"],["1928","6558"],["1929","6208"],["1930","7161"],["1931","6672"],["1932","6142"],["1933","5423"],["1934","5766"],["1935","6555"],["1936","6911"],["1937","7173"],["1938","7263"],["1939","7658"],["1940","7003"],["1941","6202"],["1942","5528"],["1943","4604"],["1944","4652"],["1945","5420"],["1946","6788"],["1947","8143"],["1948","8983"],["1949","10113"],["1950","10052"],["1951","9403"],["1952","9935"],["1953","9614"],["1954","9354"],["1955","10597"],["1956","10844"],["1957","11842"],["1958","12201"],["1959","12658"],["1960","14562"],["1961","15832"],["1962","17583"],["1963","19572"],["1964","18329"],["1965","21045"],["1966","23111"],["1967","24113"],["1968","28719"],["1969","25194"],["1970","26656"],["1971","27559"],["1972","28047"],["1973","28488"],["1974","28578"],["1975","30495"],["1976","30909"],["1977","31485"],["1978","30964"],["1979","33420"],["1980","32903"],["1981","32234"],["1982","35215"],["1983","35327"],["1984","39000"],["1985","41353"],["1986","45432"],["1987","44578"],["1988","50154"],["1989","51941"],["1990","56882"],["1991","56048"],["1992","66619"],["1993","66966"],["1994","73056"],["1995","75779"],["1996","83429"],["1997","86974"],["1998","93405"],["1999","100327"],["2000","117434"],["2001","119445"],["2002","138143"],["2003","152681"],["2004","153931"],["2005","157038"],["2006","167472"],["2007","172849"],["2008","179309"]]

How to pronounce enabling?

1. AlexUS EnglishDavidUS EnglishMarkUS EnglishDanielBritishLibbyBritishMiaBritishKarenAustralianHayleyAustralianNatashaAustralianVeenaIndianPriyaIndianNeerjaIndianZiraUS EnglishOliverBritishWendyBritishFredUS EnglishTessaSouth African

How to say enabling in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of enabling in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of enabling in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of enabling in a Sentence

1. Gabriela Bucher:

   Inequality at such pace and scale is happening by choice, not chance, not only have our economic structures made all of us less safe against this pandemic, they are actively enabling those who are already extremely rich and powerful to exploit this crisis for their own profit.

2. John Kelly:

   I've seen this a million times, where alcoholic parents then feel guilty because they were drinking and carrying on and fighting and everything while raising the kid, and their guilt causes them to be enablers, and what that all means with him is, I don’t know everything because all the information isn’t out there, but that could create a situation where the father would be enabling him by helping him purchase the rifle.

3. Patrick Crakes:

   This is probably going to be the lowest-rated summer Olympics of all time, they can't avoid the increased media fractionalization that's enabling everyone to spend more time with all sorts of content.

4. Jared Kushner:

   The Office of American Innovation will bring a creative and strategic approach to many critical issues and intractable problems that affect Americans’ quality of life, we have an opportunity to identify and implement solutions by combining internal resources with the private sector’s innovation and creativity, enabling the federal government to better serve Americans.

5. Deborah Ross:

   The children of these workers, known as Documented Dreamers, grow up in the United States, attend American schools, and graduate from American universities; however, they can be forced to self-deport at age 21 when their dependent visas expire. I’m honored to be introducing legislation to protect these young adults from aging out and provide them with a pathway to citizenship. By enabling Documented Dreamers to stay in the country they call home, we will make our nation more competitive and ensure all families are treated with dignity and respect.

more sentences »

Popularity rank by frequency of use

enabling#1#6638#10000

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNethttp://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=enabling
2. ^ Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enabling
3. ^ ChatGPThttps://chat.openai.com
4. ^ Webster Dictionaryhttps://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enabling
5. ^ Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=enabling
6. ^ Usage in printed sourceshttps://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=enabling

Translations for enabling

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

• AktivierenGerman
• permitiendoSpanish
• permettantFrench
• abilitareItalian
• позволяяRussian
• mojliggorSwedish
• กำลังเปิดใช้งานThai
• дозволяючиUkrainian

Get even more translations for enabling »

Translation

Find a translation for the enabling definition in other languages:

Select another language:

• - Select -
• 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
• 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
• Español (Spanish)
• Esperanto (Esperanto)
• 日本語 (Japanese)
• Português (Portuguese)
• Deutsch (German)
• العربية (Arabic)
• Français (French)
• Русский (Russian)
• ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
• 한국어 (Korean)
• עברית (Hebrew)
• Gaeilge (Irish)
• Українська (Ukrainian)
• اردو (Urdu)
• Magyar (Hungarian)
• मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
• Indonesia (Indonesian)
• Italiano (Italian)
• தமிழ் (Tamil)
• Türkçe (Turkish)
• తెలుగు (Telugu)
• ภาษาไทย (Thai)
• Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
• Čeština (Czech)
• Polski (Polish)
• Românește (Romanian)
• Nederlands (Dutch)
• Ελληνικά (Greek)
• Latinum (Latin)
• Svenska (Swedish)
• Dansk (Danish)
• Suomi (Finnish)
• فارسی (Persian)
• ייִדיש (Yiddish)
• հայերեն (Armenian)
• Norsk (Norwegian)
• English (English)

Word of the Day

Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?

Please enter your email address:

Subscribe

Citation

Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"enabling." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LTD, 2026. Web. 11 Mar. 2026. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/enabling>.

Powered by CITE.ME

Discuss these enabling definitions with the community:

https://www.definitions.net/definition/enabling

0 Comments

0:00 0:00 clear