unanswerable
not capable of being answered; not having a known or discoverable answer: an unanswerable question.
not open to dispute or rebuttal; irrefutable; conclusive: an unanswerable proof.
Origin of unanswerable
1Other words from unanswerable
- un·an·swer·a·ble·ness, noun
- un·an·swer·a·bly, adverb
Words Nearby unanswerable
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use unanswerable in a sentence
Sometimes it feels as if he’s drowning under the weight of all the unanswerable questions.
One family’s harrowing escape from the collapsing condo building: ‘Run, fast!’ | Brittany Shammas | July 1, 2021 | Washington PostMany died because they could not get enough oxygen or other treatment, leaving their families with the unanswerable question of whether their relatives might have been saved with proper care.
These twins are 5 years old. They lost both parents to covid-19. | Joanna Slater | June 17, 2021 | Washington PostThe reason science and engineering have advanced is because we bracketed the problem of consciousness as something unanswerable.
Literature Should Be Taught Like Science - Issue 97: Wonder | Kevin Berger | February 24, 2021 | NautilusIn a pandemic that’s been filled with unanswerable questions and unwinnable wars, this is our daily Kobayashi Maru.
Every Decision Is A Risk. Every Risk Is A Decision. | Maggie Koerth (maggie.koerth-baker@fivethirtyeight.com) | July 21, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightLike most things Grammy-related, it is an unanswerable question.
Beyonce Gave the Best Grammy Awards Performance (And 8 More That Were Pretty Good, Too) | Kevin Fallon | January 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The unanswerable questions my twins often ask me, such as, “Dad, why is your ear here?”
This is, in some sense, an unanswerable existential question.
"Tax Breaks for Corporate Jets": The Non-Issue at the Heart of the Presidential Agenda | Megan McArdle | April 10, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTIn the end, precisely how many enslaved people the document alone actually freed remains unanswerable.
A Mighty Act: The 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation | Harold Holzer | January 1, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTMacLaine, avid spiritualist and searcher, is comfortable with the unanswerable.
Shirley MacLaine on ‘Bernie,’ ‘Downton Abbey,’ and Her Lifetime Achievments | Lorenza Muñoz | April 25, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST"The authority of Mademoiselle de La Vauvraye," was the unanswerable rejoinder.
St. Martin's Summer | Rafael SabatiniThis question, looked upon as unanswerable by many of those who ask it, is really of minor importance.
Man And His Ancestor | Charles MorrisAnd thus, in part, was answered Mr. Cushing's apparently unanswerable exclamation: "What possible chance can the South have?"
The Supplies for the Confederate Army | Caleb HuseShe spoke with a sense of knowing that she had propounded an unanswerable question.
Patchwork | Anna Balmer MyersOf the last, I shall afford an unanswerable proof from my own person.
Baboo Jabberjee, B.A. | F. Anstey
British Dictionary definitions for unanswerable
/ (ʌnˈɑːnsərəbəl) /
incapable of being refuted
(of a question) not admitting of any answer
Derived forms of unanswerable
- unanswerableness, noun
- unanswerably, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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