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I intend to describe something possible to be held by hand.

I want to use the word in this fragment:

Flat 3-dimensions and grabbable 2-dimensions.

I'm trying to express in my paper that the dimension seems to be reversed because of the dominance of smartphones. Basically, a plane cannot be held by our hand. But because we have become so familiar with LCD monitors - even more than external reality - I think we understand virtual reality as 'flat 3-dimension' and reality as 'grabbable plane'.

I've found words like 'holdable', 'grippable', 'grabbable' and 'graspable' but I'm not sure which one would be best.

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  • Have you consulted a dictionary to examine the meanings of the adjectives you are considering?
    – Marv Mills
    Commented May 22, 2015 at 9:39
  • You can (in the 'are not forbidden by some notional Academie' sense) use any word. Or even any non-word. You claim that 'grabbable' is a word. But you offer no evidence to support this. You might check (under 'grab') in Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. // I'm not happy with your intended metaphorical usage; it confuses me rather than helps my understanding.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented May 22, 2015 at 9:40
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    I think that in the context you describe, 'grabbable' works just fine if you are implying that you can grab hold of a virtual plane and manipulate it, move it out of the way etc.
    – Erik Kowal
    Commented May 22, 2015 at 10:04
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    I think in context, "flat 3-dimensions and grabbable 2-dimensions" might actually work. But I also think that without any context, no one will understand you, and you will have to provide the additional explanation as you just did. By the way, note that there is no such thing as "3-dimensions". There is "3 dimensions", and there is "3D". And they don't quite mean the same thing. Lastly, the comma before the "and" is wrong. Remove it.
    – RegDwigнt
    Commented May 22, 2015 at 10:04
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    Are you trying to say that something virtual, untouchable appears to be real, as if you could touch it? Tangible might be a word that fits.
    – Lucky
    Commented May 22, 2015 at 10:24

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I think you're looking for "handheld".

handheld

: designed to be used while being held in your hands

Merriam-Webster reference

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