unknowable
adjective
not knowable; incapable of being known or understood.
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unknowable
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Unknowable
Unknowablenounphilosophy the ultimate reality that underlies all phenomena but cannot be known
unknowable
American
[uhn-noh-uh-buhl]
/ ʌnˈnoʊ ə bəl /
adjective
noun
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something that is unknowable.
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the Unknowable, the postulated reality lying behind all phenomena but not cognizable by any of the processes by which the mind cognizes phenomenal objects.
unknowable
1
British
/ ʌnˈnəʊəbəl /
adjective
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incapable of being known or understood
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beyond human understanding
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( as noun )
the unknowable
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Unknowable
2
British
/ ʌnˈnəʊəbəl /
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unknowable
Middle English word dating back to 1325–75; see origin at un- 1, knowable
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.
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
Gianrico Farrugia, Mayo’s chief executive, acknowledges the risks of lurching into an unknowable future, but tells the author that “the risk of not going fast enough is far greater at this point.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 8, 2026
The river, at times hauntingly beautiful and others murky and unknowable, offers a mirror to Daniel's torment, and to the increasingly fragile hope of his wife, Agnieszka, that Chris will one day come home.
From Barron's • Jan. 24, 2026
The big question is somewhat unknowable — 20% of what?
From MarketWatch • Oct. 29, 2025
And then Erin and I are kissing on a new roof, under the same endless unknowable space above, and somehow we’re okay.
From "Boy21" by Matthew Quick
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.
