incontestable
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- incontestability noun
- incontestableness noun
- incontestably adverb
Etymology
Origin of incontestable
First recorded in 1665–75; in- 3 + contestable ( def. )
Explanation
Something incontestable can't be argued with — it's absolutely true or right. It's an incontestable fact that the earth rotates around the sun. You can't dispute something that's truly incontestable, because it's absolutely clear and unmistakably true. The witness to a car accident could say that it's the incontestable fault of the driver who ran a red light. And once you've signed all the necessary forms and been handed the keys, you're the incontestable owner of your new car. Incontestable adds the "not" prefix, in-, to contestable, "opposable," or "arguable."
Vocabulary lists containing incontestable
Declaration of the Rights of Woman (1791)
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Letters to a Young Poet
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Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
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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.
That there was complacency and lack of focus in the bureaucracy is incontestable.
From Salon • Feb. 28, 2026
“He just had that spirit of being here before and knowing a lot and an incontestable, delusional positivity about everything. I just think that was his gift.”
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 15, 2024
But investing their faith in justice has provided hope for those left behind of establishing an incontestable truth - to dispel all the misinformation surrounding the missile attack on the plane.
From BBC • Jan. 14, 2022
More than ever, moving images — body cameras that monitor police conduct, the video review of athletic event rulings — purport to capture the incontestable truth.
From New York Times • Aug. 5, 2021
This does not mean that its rightness was always apparent, although careless historians and scientists often imply as much; it does mean that its rightness becomes incontestable, at least for a period of time.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
