incontrovertible
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of incontrovertible
First recorded in 1640–50; in- 3 + controvertible ( def. )
Explanation
When something is incontrovertible, it is undeniably, absolutely, 100 percent, completely true. That rain is wet is an incontrovertible fact. If you look at incontrovertible, you see that -controver-, as in controversy, is hiding inside. Add in the prefix, and it's easy to see that incontrovertible means there is no controversy about something, or, in other words, it is unchangeable and true. Incontrovertible evidence or proof is what you are looking for if you suspect that someone is doing something wrong.
Vocabulary lists containing incontrovertible
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The Namesake
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In these Straussian terms, Churchill’s greatness was incontrovertible.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
And there's another phenomenon that has been termed "complexity phobia": the aversion to recognising incontrovertible evidence and facts if they challenge a more comfortable and comforting narrative.
From BBC • Mar. 7, 2026
Start with some incontrovertible rules to live by.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 9, 2026
Most egregiously, they seek to conceal an incontrovertible truth: roughly 38 million Americans currently live at the poverty line, 11 million of whom are children.
From Salon • Jan. 20, 2025
The heavily illustrated volume, just 165 pages long, presented incontrovertible evidence that humans and chimpanzees were built to the same body plan.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
