deniable

American  

[dih-nahy-uh-buhl] / dɪˈnaɪ ə bəl /

adjective

1. capable of being or liable to be denied or contradicted.

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deniable British  

/ dɪˈnaɪəbəl /

adjective

1. able to be denied; questionable

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• deniably
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of deniable

First recorded in 1540–50; deny + -able

Explanation

When you’re doing something you don't necessarily want to own up to, something you may want to deny ever happened, you can try to create a cloud of uncertainty and make it deniable. Secret government agencies are adept at covering their tracks so their actions remain deniable. An intelligence bureau may work to encourage a coup, but by working through spies and operatives, the agency tries to keep its role secret and deniable. If you're addicted to late-night scenes of gluttony with chocolate-chip cookies, you may want to keep that secret deniable by creating a phantom aunt with a special fondness for cookies.

Example Sentences

Hybrid warfare is when a hostile state carries out an anonymous, deniable attack, usually in highly suspicious circumstances.

From BBC • May 11, 2025

It is the most delicate of dances, rife with subtle signals, attacks and feints, and deniable action.

From New York Times • Jan. 14, 2024

Perhaps, some analysts suggested, it marked the demise of a nettlesome character whose usefulness — as a deniable military asset, international fixer and pro-Kremlin master of the media dark arts — had run its course.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 24, 2023

It's also leaderless and therefore easily deniable, allowing it to proliferate in spaces designed to be escapist and unserious.

From Salon • Jun. 30, 2022

The possibility of this combination is of course not only shocking to Mrs. Grundy, but deniable by persons who are not Mrs. Grundy at all.

From A History of the French Novel, Vol. 1 From the Beginning to 1800 by Saintsbury, George