ungovernable

[uhn-guhv-er-nuh-buhl]

adjective

1. impossible to govern, rule, or restrain; uncontrollable.

ungovernable

/ ʌnˈɡʌvənəbəl /

adjective

1. not able to be disciplined, restrained, etc

   an ungovernable temper

Other Word Forms

• ungovernability noun
• ungovernableness noun
• ungovernably adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of ungovernable¹

1665–75; un- ¹ + governable ( def. )

Example Sentences

But the Islamist insurgency has continued, and has made much of the north and east of the country ungovernable.

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The 34-year-old, with scant managerial experience, will have to manage a famously ungovernable city in all of its vast complexity.

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A snap legislative election last year produced an ungovernable National Assembly split three ways.

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But the jihadist insurgency has continued, and has made much of the north and east of the country ungovernable.

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Further afield, France is ungovernable, other parts of Europe nearly so.

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