incontrovertible

American  

[in-kon-truh-vur-tuh-buhl, in-kon-] / ˌɪn kɒn trəˈvɜr tə bəl, ɪnˌkɒn- /

adjective

1. not controvertible; not open to question or dispute; indisputable.

   absolute and incontrovertible truth.

   Synonyms:

   unquestionable, undeniable, incontestable

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incontrovertible British  

/ ɪnˌkɒn-, ˌɪnkɒntrəˈvɜːtəbəl /

adjective

1. incapable of being contradicted or disputed; undeniable

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Other Word Forms

• incontrovertibility noun
• incontrovertibleness noun
• incontrovertibly adverb

Etymology

Origin of incontrovertible

First recorded in 1640–50; in- ³ + controvertible ( def. )

Explanation

When something is incontrovertible, it is undeniably, absolutely, 100 percent, completely true. That rain is wet is an incontrovertible fact. If you look at incontrovertible, you see that -controver-, as in controversy, is hiding inside. Add in the prefix, and it's easy to see that incontrovertible means there is no controversy about something, or, in other words, it is unchangeable and true. Incontrovertible evidence or proof is what you are looking for if you suspect that someone is doing something wrong.

Example Sentences

And there's another phenomenon that has been termed "complexity phobia": the aversion to recognising incontrovertible evidence and facts if they challenge a more comfortable and comforting narrative.

From BBC • Mar. 7, 2026

Start with some incontrovertible rules to live by.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 9, 2026

Most egregiously, they seek to conceal an incontrovertible truth: roughly 38 million Americans currently live at the poverty line, 11 million of whom are children.

From Salon • Jan. 20, 2025

For Nikki, who died Monday at 81, our future depends upon our willingness to learn from everyday Black folks’ refusal to accept status-quo cruelties as incontrovertible realities.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 15, 2024

They all talked at once, their voices insistent and contradictory and impatient, making of unreality a possibility, then a probability, then an incontrovertible fact, as people will when their desires become words.

From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner