unanswerable

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UK/ʌnˈɑːnsəɹəb(ə)l/

adjective

Not answerable; impossible to answer.

UncommonScrabble 17

Meanings

adjectiveunanswerable (comparative more unanswerable, superlative most unanswerable)

comparative more unanswerable · superlative most unanswerable · alternative obsolete rare unaunswerable

  1. Not answerable; impossible to answer.

    Synonyms: answerless · Antonyms: answerable

  2. Impossible to dispute or rebut; irrefutable; conclusive.

    The map is never an unanswerable argument in transportation.

    1926, Great Britain Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Economic Series, Issues 1-6, H.M. Stationery Office, page 75
    1 more example

    If I have not said much about it before, it was, of course, that the Professor's earnest desire was that no possible rumor of the unanswerable argument which we carried should be allowed to leak out until the moment came when his enemies were to be confuted.

    1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC

    Synonyms: indisputable · Antonyms: disputable, inconclusive, refutable

noununanswerable (plural unanswerables)

plural unanswerables · alternative obsolete rare unaunswerable

  1. Something that cannot be answered.

    These unanswerables are left open to the viewer's own construction by the sculptor.

    2005, Anupam Nagar, Recritiquing John Keats, page 55

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveNot answerable; impossible to answer.

Similar
Opposite

adjectiveImpossible to dispute or rebut; irrefutable; conclusive.

More synonyms by meaning

adjectiveimpossible to answer

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Germanic*un-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*un-
  5. Old Englishun-
  6. Middle Englishun-
  7. Englishun-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ent-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*h₂énts
  10. Proto-Germanic*anda-
  11. Proto-Indo-European*swer-
  12. Proto-Germanic*swarjaną
  13. Proto-Germanic*andaswarjaną
  14. Old Englishandswerian
  15. Middle Englishansweren
  16. Englishanswer
  17. Englishanswerable
  18. Englishunanswerable

From un- + answerable.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Dutch onbeantwoordbaar, antwoordloos
  • onbeantwoordbaarnot answerable; impossible to answer
  • antwoordloosnot answerable; impossible to answer
German unbeantwortbar, antwortlos
  • unbeantwortbarnot answerable; impossible to answer
  • antwortlosnot answerable; impossible to answer
Irish dofhreagartha, dobhréagnaithe
  • dofhreagarthanot answerable; impossible to answer
  • dobhréagnaitheimpossible to dispute or rebut; irrefutable; conclusive
  • dosháraitheimpossible to dispute or rebut; irrefutable; conclusive
Polish bezsporny
  • bezspornyimpossible to dispute or rebut; irrefutable; conclusive
Portuguese irrespondível, sem resposta/respostas
  • irrespondívelnot answerable; impossible to answer
  • sem resposta/respostasnot answerable; impossible to answer
  • irrespondívelimpossible to dispute or rebut; irrefutable; conclusive
  • irrefutávelimpossible to dispute or rebut; irrefutable; conclusive
  • irreplicávelimpossible to dispute or rebut; irrefutable; conclusive
Romanian iresponsabil
  • iresponsabilnot answerable; impossible to answer
Cite this entry
APA

unanswerable. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unanswerable

MLA

“unanswerable.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unanswerable. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unanswerable,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unanswerable.

Source: unanswerable on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.