Seasonal vs Seasonable

Judy Vorfeld
SEASONAL means depen­dent on/related to a sea­son. Happening, needed, nor­mal for a par­tic­u­lar time of the year. This could be a sea­son of the year, or sea­sonal employ­ment, a sports sea­son (foot­ball, bas­ket­ball, etc.), or sea­sonal affec­tive dis­or­der. The list goes on.

SEASONABLE means usual for or appro­pri­ate to a par­tic­u­lar sea­son of the year. Think suit­able. Normal to a cer­tain time of year. The Free Dictionary says that it’s often used as a legal term, and  is usu­ally used in con­nec­tion with the per­for­mance of con­trac­tual oblig­a­tions that must be com­pleted “sea­son­ably.” The facts and cir­cum­stances of each case define a rea­son­able period of time.