unanswerable

[ uhn-an-ser-uh-buhl, -ahn- ]

adjective

1. not capable of being answered; not having a known or discoverable answer:

   an unanswerable question.

2. not open to dispute or rebuttal; irrefutable; conclusive:

   an unanswerable proof.

unanswerable

/ ʌnˈɑːnsərəbəl /

adjective

1. incapable of being refuted
2. (of a question) not admitting of any answer

Derived Forms

• unˈanswerably, adverb
• unˈanswerableness, noun

Other Words From

• un·answer·a·ble·ness noun
• un·answer·a·bly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of unanswerable¹

First recorded in 1605–15; un- ¹ + answerable

Example Sentences

Sometimes it feels as if he’s drowning under the weight of all the unanswerable questions.

From Washington Post

Many died because they could not get enough oxygen or other treatment, leaving their families with the unanswerable question of whether their relatives might have been saved with proper care.

From Washington Post

The reason science and engineering have advanced is because we bracketed the problem of consciousness as something unanswerable.

From Nautilus

In a pandemic that’s been filled with unanswerable questions and unwinnable wars, this is our daily Kobayashi Maru.

From FiveThirtyEight

Like most things Grammy-related, it is an unanswerable question.

From The Daily Beast

The unanswerable questions my twins often ask me, such as, “Dad, why is your ear here?”

From The Daily Beast

This is, in some sense, an unanswerable existential question.

From The Daily Beast

In the end, precisely how many enslaved people the document alone actually freed remains unanswerable.

From The Daily Beast

MacLaine, avid spiritualist and searcher, is comfortable with the unanswerable.

From The Daily Beast

"The authority of Mademoiselle de La Vauvraye," was the unanswerable rejoinder.

From Project Gutenberg

This question, looked upon as unanswerable by many of those who ask it, is really of minor importance.

From Project Gutenberg

And thus, in part, was answered Mr. Cushing's apparently unanswerable exclamation: "What possible chance can the South have?"

From Project Gutenberg

She spoke with a sense of knowing that she had propounded an unanswerable question.

From Project Gutenberg

Of the last, I shall afford an unanswerable proof from my own person.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• accurate
• authentic
• binding
• compelling
• conclusive
• credible
• good
• lawful
• legal
• legitimate
• logical
• original
• persuasive
• solid
• true
• well-founded