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uncertain
[ uhn-sur-tn ]
adjective
- not definitely ascertainable or fixed, as in time of occurrence, number, dimensions, or quality.
Synonyms: unsure, unpredictable
- not confident, assured, or free from hesitancy:
an uncertain smile.
- not clearly or precisely determined; indefinite; unknown:
a manuscript of uncertain origin.
Synonyms: undetermined, unsettled
- vague; indistinct; not perfectly apprehended:
an abstruse novel with uncertain themes.
- subject to change; variable; capricious; unstable:
a person of uncertain opinions.
- ambiguous; unreliable; undependable:
Her loyalties are uncertain.
- dependent on chance or unpredictable factors; doubtful; of unforeseeable outcome or effect.
- unsteady or flickering, as light; of changing intensity or quality.
Synonyms: irregular
uncertain
/ ʌnˈsɜːtən /
adjective
- not able to be accurately known or predicted
the issue is uncertain
- whenpostpositive, often foll by of not sure or confident (about)
a man of uncertain opinion
- not precisely determined, established, or decided
uncertain plans
- not to be depended upon; unreliable
an uncertain vote
- liable to variation; changeable
the weather is uncertain
- in no uncertain terms
- unambiguously
- forcefully
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Derived Forms
- unˈcertainly, adverb
- unˈcertainness, noun
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Other Words From
- un·certain·ly adverb
- un·certain·ness noun
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Word History and Origins
Origin of uncertain1
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Idioms and Phrases
see in no uncertain terms .Discover More
Synonym Study
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Example Sentences
If the certainty of the wisdom of uncertainty is itself uncertain, the force of the definition crumbles by logical standards.
In war, he wrote, “everything is uncertain … all military action is intertwined with psychological forces and effects.”
“The jailer had a high-school-age daughter and was uncertain how to help her get in college,” writes Ferris.
Meanwhile, ISIS is on the march, and President Obama strikes an uncertain pose.
Even “destroyed” becomes an uncertain term when applied to these sort of digital files.
Distance, the uncertain light, and imagination, magnified it to a high wall; high as the wall of China.
Uric acid is decreased before an attack of gout and increased afterward, but its etiologic relation is still uncertain.
An estate upon condition is one which depends upon the happening or not happening of some uncertain event.
It is therefore uncertain from these statements which furnace consumes the greater quantity of air.
Again Arabella inclined her head, and looked uneasily round as if uncertain whether to call for assistance.
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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.
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