Meanings
plural uncertainties · alternative India uncertainity
- uncountableDoubt; the condition of being uncertain or without conviction.
It's a full circle. Over the past 43 years, RAIL has reported on how the railways have gone from uncertainty under government control to sectorisation, privatisation, and back to uncertainty under government control.
2024 January 10, Howard Johnston, “Launched for enthusiasts - now it's for everyone”, in RAIL, number 1000, page 283 more examples
“Well,” I answered, at first with uncertainty, then with inspiration, “he would do splendidly to lead your cotillon, if you think of having one.” ¶ “So you do not dance, Mr. Crocker?” ¶ I was somewhat set back by her perspicuity.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 51After spending so much of the season looking upwards, the swashbuckling style and swagger of early season Spurs was replaced by uncertainty and frustration against a Norwich side who had the quality and verve to take advantage
2012 April 9, Mandeep Sanghera, “Tottenham 1-2 Norwich”, in BBC SportPiecing together Corbynomics is difficult, not least because it has evolved during Mr Corbyn’s time in charge of Labour. The gulf between the Labour leadership’s past positions and the milder proposals in the manifesto means that enormous uncertainty hangs over what a Corbyn-led government would do in office.
2018 May 17, “Corbynomics would change Britain—but not in the way most people think”, in The Economist - countableSomething uncertain or ambiguous.
Near-synonym: uncertain (noun)
2 more examples
Some uncertainties remain; an especially salient uncertainty is the timing of their return trip.
Despite these uncertainties, Clarke told MPs he was convinced of the need to order trains powered by batteries. He said: "We're calling for a 'no regrets' order of battery trains because we see them always having a future. We see them being fundable, financeable, similar cost to diesel trains, and we know that however much electrification we would aspire to do, there's always going to be at least a third of the network that isn't electrified.
2023 December 27, Philip Haigh, “All eyes are on the DfT as rolling stock concerns deepen”, in RAIL, number 999, page 19Synonyms: uncertain
- uncountablemathematicsA parameter that measures the dispersion of a range of measured values.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSomething uncertain or ambiguous.
More synonyms by meaning
nounbeing unsettled or in doubt or dependent on chance
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishuncerteynte
- Englishuncertainty
From Middle English uncerteynte; equivalent to un- + certainty or uncertain + -ty.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀδηλότης
- ἀδηλότης (adēlótēs)doubt; the condition of being uncertain
Bulgarian несигурност
- несигурност (nesigurnost)doubt; the condition of being uncertain
Catalan incertesa
- incertesadoubt; the condition of being uncertain
Chinese Mandarin 不确定性
- 不确定性 (bù què dìng xìng)doubt; the condition of being uncertain
Czech nejistota
- nejistotadoubt; the condition of being uncertain
Danish usikkerhed
- usikkerheddoubt; the condition of being uncertain
Dutch onzekerheid
- onzekerheiddoubt; the condition of being uncertain
Esperanto necerteco, malcerteco
- necertecodoubt; the condition of being uncertain
- malcertecodoubt; the condition of being uncertain
Finnish epävarmuus
- epävarmuusdoubt; the condition of being uncertain
French incertitude
- incertitudedoubt; the condition of being uncertain
German Unsicherheit, Ungewissheit
- Unsicherheitdoubt; the condition of being uncertain
- Ungewissheitdoubt; the condition of being uncertain
- Unsicherheitsomething uncertain or ambiguous
Greek αβεβαιότητα
- αβεβαιότητα (avevaiótita)doubt; the condition of being uncertain
Hindi संदेह, संशय
- संदेह (sandeh)doubt; the condition of being uncertain
- संशय (sañśay)doubt; the condition of being uncertain
- अनिश्चय (aniścay)doubt; the condition of being uncertain
- अनिश्चितता (aniścittā)something uncertain or ambiguous
- अनिश्चय (aniścay)something uncertain or ambiguous
Hungarian bizonytalanság
- bizonytalanságdoubt; the condition of being uncertain
Italian incertezza
- incertezzadoubt; the condition of being uncertain
Korean 불확실, 불확실한 것
- 불확실 (bulhwaksil)doubt; the condition of being uncertain
- 불확실한 것 (bulhwaksilhan geot)something uncertain or ambiguous
Latin incertum
- incertumdoubt; the condition of being uncertain
Malay ketidakpastian, ketidakpastian
- ketidakpastiandoubt; the condition of being uncertain
- ketidakpastiansomething uncertain or ambiguous
Māori kumukumu
- kumukumudoubt; the condition of being uncertain
Polish niepewność
- niepewnośćdoubt; the condition of being uncertain
Portuguese incerteza, incerteza
- incertezadoubt; the condition of being uncertain
- incertezasomething uncertain or ambiguous
Romanian incertitudine, nesiguranță
- incertitudinedoubt; the condition of being uncertain
- nesiguranțădoubt; the condition of being uncertain
Russian неуве́ренность, сомне́ние
- неуве́ренность (neuvérennostʹ)doubt; the condition of being uncertain
- сомне́ние (somnénije)doubt; the condition of being uncertain
- неуве́ренность (neuvérennostʹ)something uncertain or ambiguous
- нея́сность (nejásnostʹ)something uncertain or ambiguous
- неопределённость (neopredeljónnostʹ)something uncertain or ambiguous
- погре́шность (pogréšnostʹ)mathematics: a parameter that measures the dispersion
- нето́чность (netóčnostʹ)mathematics: a parameter that measures the dispersion
- неопределённость (neopredeljónnostʹ)mathematics: a parameter that measures the dispersion
Scottish Gaelic mì-chinnt
- mì-chinntdoubt; the condition of being uncertain
Spanish incertidumbre, incerteza
- incertidumbredoubt; the condition of being uncertain
- incertezadoubt; the condition of being uncertain
- incertituddoubt; the condition of being uncertain
- incertinidaddoubt; the condition of being uncertain
Swedish osäkerhet
- osäkerhetdoubt; the condition of being uncertain
Tagalog dikatiyakan, dikatiyakan
- dikatiyakandoubt; the condition of being uncertain
- dikatiyakanmathematics: a parameter that measures the dispersion
Thai ความไม่แน่นอน
- ความไม่แน่นอนdoubt; the condition of being uncertain
Turkish belirsizlik, muğlaklık
- belirsizlikdoubt; the condition of being uncertain
- muğlaklıkdoubt; the condition of being uncertain
Ukrainian невпе́вненість, непе́вність
- невпе́вненість (nevpévnenistʹ)doubt; the condition of being uncertain
- непе́вність (nepévnistʹ)doubt; the condition of being uncertain
- неви́значеність (nevýznačenistʹ)doubt; the condition of being uncertain
Cite this entry
uncertainty. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/uncertainty
“uncertainty.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/uncertainty. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “uncertainty,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/uncertainty.
Source: uncertainty on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.