something that is unknowable.
the Unknowable, the postulated reality lying behind all phenomena but not cognizable by any of the processes by which the mind cognizes phenomenal objects.
incapable of being known or understood
beyond human understanding
( as noun )
the unknowable
Middle English word dating back to 1325–75; see origin at un- 1, knowable
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One of his colleagues' frustrations with him has always been that he seems unknowable.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
Your greatest retirement risk may be something that’s unknowable: how long you will live.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 23, 2026
As he explains to Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck, A.I. is a hyperobject that touches everything in unknowable ways.
From Slate ● Mar. 14, 2026
At its best, it’s poetry trying to make sense of the unknowable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026
He’d learned, the moment he glimpsed what lay beyond the Cusp, that the realm of the unknowable was so much bigger than he’d guessed.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Unknowable and terrifying, the workings of the mind can feel like a supernatural force.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2022
Unknowable today is whether E.U. policymakers will stick with their program or undercut the policy when prices start to rise, as they have in the past.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 18, 2021
Unknowable — so no need to judge too harshly.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 13, 2017
Hardoon's topic--tonight and every Thursday, to packed classes--is how to align oneself with "the Light," the never-ending mystical emanation of the Unknowable God, Ein Sof.
From Time Magazine Archive
But Spencer's Unknowable, notwithstanding its negative prefix, is the Ultimate Reality, and does all that is in any way done.
From Spencer's Philosophy of Science The Herbert Spencer Lecture Delivered at the Museum 7 November, 1913 by Morgan, C. Lloyd (Conwy Lloyd)
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.
