Excusable is scarcely applied to offenses, but to matters open to doubt or criticism rather than direct censure; so used, it often falls little short of justifiable; as, I think, under those circumstances, his action was excusable.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

justifiable It was a case of clearly justifiable self-defense.
forgivable For me, as a city dweller, it's forgivable.
understandable It's understandable that you should feel this way.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
excusable		falling
justifiable		falling
forgivable		rising
supportable		falling
venial		steady
understandable		steady

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

6 letters: venial
10 letters: forgivable⁴, pardonable
11 letters: justifiable⁵, supportable⁴
14 letters: understandable⁵

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (forgivable⁴ = 4 syllables).

In other languages

Français: excusable
Italiano: scusabile
Deutsch: entschuldbar