Meanings
nounKnightian uncertainty (countable and uncountable, plural Knightian uncertainties)
plural Knightian uncertainties
- countableuncountableA lack of any quantifiable knowledge about some possible occurrence, as opposed to the presence of quantifiable risk.
In addition, it is hard currently to assign probabilities to these scenarios. This is something economists refer to as Knightian uncertainty.
2025 March 21, John C. Williams, “Certain Uncertainty (speech)”, in New York Fed (Remarks at the Macroeconometric Caribbean Conference, Nassau, Bahamas)
Origin
Named after University of Chicago economist Frank Knight (1885–1972).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
Knightian uncertainty. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Knightian%20uncertainty
MLA
“Knightian uncertainty.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Knightian%20uncertainty. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Knightian uncertainty,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Knightian%20uncertainty.
Source: Knightian uncertainty on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.