Meanings
- not comparablecomputingAble to be shown to hold with very high confidence via heuristic arguments, but not formally provable.
1 more example
For the Collatz conjecture, as written in condensed form, the map is scaling by 1#47;2 or 3#47;2 with equal probability, so the expected growth factor is #92;sqrt#123;3#47;4#125;lt;1}. Thus, we may argue that the map should probviously cycle back to 1. Nevertheless, in a postscript, Conway wrote that the Collatz conjecture is very likely unsettleable.
2023, Peter Lynch, “Amusical Permutations and Unsettleable Problems”, in ThatsMaths
Origin
Blend of probabilistically + obvious. Coined by American mathematician John Horton Conway in 2013.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
probvious. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/probvious
“probvious.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/probvious. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “probvious,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/probvious.
Source: probvious on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.