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.
See Examples For:
Whether they noted these changes – or connected them to any distant event – is unknowable.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
How much they’d help, and whether it’s already too late, are unknowable.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 4, 2026
Given the current pace of technological change, what the future holds for these companies so long from now is about as unknowable as anything in finance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Its chief ambition is endurance: it must survive transit, uncertain demand and an unknowable stretch between gates.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
Adina gazed out at the expanse of unknowable ocean.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
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
The Victorian Agnostics.—Through this doctrine of the Unknowable, Herbert Spencer was the father of that form of belief or disbelief which was pertinently named Agnosticism by the most celebrated of its exponents—Huxley.
From Religion and Science From Galileo to Bergson by John Charlton Hardwick
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.
