inconclusive
Americanadjective
-
not conclusive; not resolving fully all doubts or questions.
inconclusive evidence.
-
without final results or outcome.
inconclusive experiments.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inconclusive
First recorded in 1680–90; in- 3 + conclusive
Explanation
If something's inconclusive, that means it doesn't lead to a conclusion or a resolution. Inconclusive often describes scientific results. If your data about a flu outbreak is inconclusive, then your results don't prove anything. A good way to remember the meaning of inconclusive is to look at the root word conclusive, which means "definitive, decisive, and convincing." When you add in- — which means "not" — to the front of conclusive, you get a word that means "not definitive." When something's inconclusive, it doesn't resolve your questions and leaves room for debate. If you're a detective, the last thing you want to hear is that your evidence is inconclusive.
Vocabulary lists containing inconclusive
Case Closed: Clud, Clus
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Vocabulary from "Stop Expecting Games to Build Empathy" by Julie Muncy
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The Double Helix
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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.
Last week, Tehran and Washington signed a memorandum of understanding laying the groundwork for the negotiations, after a 40-day war that was followed by weeks of an inconclusive and oft-breached ceasefire.
From Barron's • Jun. 22, 2026
Results were either mixed or inconclusive, and there was limited strong evidence showing that collagen significantly improves metabolic health, gum disease, or cosmetic outcomes in dentistry.
From Science Daily • Jun. 5, 2026
The replays seemed inconclusive, and anything but 'clear and obvious', but VAR asked Ferrieri Caputi to watch the incident on the pitchside monitor and she ultimately changed her decision to penalty.
From BBC • May 2, 2026
Pfizer and Valneva’s experimental Lyme disease vaccine was over 70% effective in a trial, but findings were inconclusive due to low disease incidence.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026
Early twin studies were thus confounded by this confusion, leading to inconclusive results.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
