unascertainable

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UK/ˌʌnæsəˈteɪnəbl̩/US/ˌʌnæsɚˈteɪnəbl̩/

adjective

That cannot be ascertained; uncertain, unable to be determined or discovered.

Scrabble 19

Meanings

adjectiveunascertainable (comparative more unascertainable, superlative most unascertainable)

comparative more unascertainable · superlative most unascertainable

  1. That cannot be ascertained; uncertain, unable to be determined or discovered.

    Reality is different from, and more than, the totality of facts and events, which, anyhow, is unascertainable.

    1967 February 25, Hannah Arendt, “Truth and Politics”, in The New Yorker, page 84
    2 more examples

    Everything one would wish to know of the relations of Aristotle and Alexander is unascertainable, the more so as legends were soon invented on the subject.

    1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.19

    The regulation's vagueness is especially apparent in the last clause quoted above. That portion of the test is expressly based on an individualistic—and therefore necessarily varying and unascertainable—standard: the reactions of members of the public.

    1980 September 15, Mikva, Big Mama Rag Inc v. United States

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivenot able to be ascertained; resisting discovery

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

unascertainable. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unascertainable

MLA

“unascertainable.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unascertainable. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unascertainable,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unascertainable.

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