unaccountable

[uhn-uh-koun-tuh-buhl]

adjective

1. impossible to account for; unexplained; inexplicable.

   The boat has an unaccountable tendency to yaw.

   Synonyms: unintelligible, mysterious, inscrutable, incomprehensible

2. exempt from being called to account; not answerable.

   As a subordinate, he is unaccountable for errors in policy.

   Synonyms: irresponsible, unanswerable

unaccountable

/ ˌʌnəˈkaʊntəbəl /

adjective

1. allowing of no explanation; inexplicable

2. puzzling; extraordinary

   an unaccountable fear of hamburgers

3. not accountable or answerable to

Other Word Forms

• unaccountableness noun
• unaccountability noun
• unaccountably adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of unaccountable¹

First recorded in 1635–45; un- ¹ + accountable

Example Sentences

He has criticized the federal workforce as bloated and has ordered terminations of employees whom he has described as unaccountable.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

“Phasmagorica” is different, Smith says, and was born out of those more dramatic performances, in part because he kept encountering the unaccountable.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Prosecutors said it was the endorsement of the Church that made Brain increasingly unaccountable and turned the NOS into a "cult".

Read more on BBC

When a federal court appointed a receiver to take over a Mississippi jail plagued by inmate deaths three years ago, the Hinds County supervisors decried the move as “utterly unaccountable” to voters.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

These anachronisms and inequities are further exacerbated by the unaccountable malefactors of the wealthiest classes, who are able to thwart any fundamental reforms that might weaken the popular urge for a radical or totalitarian solution.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• arcane 
• impenetrable 
• inexplicable 
• unfathomable 
• unheard-of 
• unintelligible