incalculable
Americanadjective
-
very numerous or great.
-
unable to be calculated; beyond calculation.
-
incapable of being forecast or predicted; undeterminable.
- Synonyms:
- unforeseeable, unpredictable
-
uncertain; unsure.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of incalculable
First recorded in 1785–95; in- 3 + calculable
Explanation
Something that can't be counted — because it's too big, or it just can't be pinned down that way — is incalculable. A kindergarten class's excitement on Halloween is incalculable. The depth of your love for your cat might be incalculable, and so is the concept of infinity. Things that can't be accurately measured can be described with the adjective incalculable, as can things that aren't predictable: "His anger over the dent in his car was incalculable. The root of the word is calculate, or count, which comes from the Latin calculare, "to reckon, or to compute."
Vocabulary lists containing incalculable
"Simon's Saga," Vocabulary from Episode 10
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Ben Bradlee (1921-2014) Tribute List
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Cleopatra
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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.
Reading all of the obituaries with a connection to sports from the New York Times project “An Incalculable Loss.”
From Slate • May 26, 2020
Incalculable: Attempted pronunciations of Janewattananond by gallery members.
From Golf Digest • May 18, 2019
"Incalculable harm may be done by giving children paralyzing inferiority complexes."
From Time Magazine Archive
Incalculable Consequences On the face of it, the space flight had little pertinence to the problems, the agonies of earth.
From Time Magazine Archive
Incalculable were the sums he spent on such pursuits, and the consequence was that he had many creditors.
From Dio's Rome, Volume 5, Books 61-76 (A.D. 54-211) An Historical Narrative Originally Composed in Greek During The Reigns of Septimius Severus, Geta and Caracalla, Macrinus, Elagabalus and Alexander Severus: and Now Presented in English Form By Herbert Baldwin Foster by Foster, Herbert Baldwin
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.
