unknowable

[ uhn-noh-uh-buh l ]

/ ʌnˈnoʊ ə bəl /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR unknowable ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

not knowable; incapable of being known or understood.

noun

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.

Words nearby unknowable

unkindest cut, unkindly, unknightly, unknit, unknot, unknowable, unknowing, unknown, unknown quantity, unknown soldier, unlace

Origin of unknowable

Middle English word dating back to 1325–75; see origin at un-¹, knowable

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for unknowable

X and Y could be terrible on their own, unknowable terms, and therefore incomparable.
Atheist King Richard Dawkins’ Rape Fantasy|Tim Teeman|July 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Doug Kenney was many things to many people—funny, generous, unknowable.
Doug Kenney: The Odd Comic Genius Behind ‘Animal House’ and National Lampoon|Robert Sam Anson|March 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Glassless will walk around with heads ducked down, desperate to avoid the mysterious, unknowable intentions of the Glassed.
Google Glass’s Insane, Terrifying Etiquette Guide|Tim Teeman|February 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“People are unknowable,” Hardy mutters—his last lesson for Miller.
‘Broadchurch’ Is Great TV for Fans of ‘Downton Abbey,’ ‘Doctor Who,’ and ‘Prime Suspect’|Andrew Romano|August 7, 2013|DAILY BEAST

"It depends on individual risk factors, many of them unknowable in advance" -- that rule is not so easy.
Marijuana Use Isn't Worth the Risk|David Frum|January 7, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Mr. Spencer offers no explanations and relegates all to the convenient dumping ground of the unknowable.
The Universe a Vast Electric Organism|George Woodward Warder
Only the great, the 'metaphysical mystery,' 'the unknowable essence of reality,' continues to chain him.
Life and Writings of Maurice Maeterlinck|Jethro Bithell
But neither can it be stated mathematically that they are all unknowable.
A Librarian's Open Shelf|Arthur E. Bostwick
I do not mean on hours, but there may be unknowable differences of minutes, and each minute represents a mile.
My Attainment of the Pole|Frederick A. Cook
So the wisest philosophers like Herbert Spencer may go to religion and find nothing there but the abstruce and unknowable.
The Universe a Vast Electric Organism|George Woodward Warder

British Dictionary definitions for unknowable (1 of 2)

unknowable

/ (ʌnˈnəʊəbəl) /

adjective

incapable of being known or understood

beyond human understanding
(as noun)the unknowable

Derived forms of unknowable

unknowableness or unknowability, noununknowably, adverb

British Dictionary definitions for unknowable (2 of 2)

Unknowable

/ (ʌnˈnəʊəbəl) /

noun

the Unknowable philosophy the ultimate reality that underlies all phenomena but cannot be known

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

unknowable

adjective

noun

Words related to unknowable

Words nearby unknowable

Origin of unknowable

Examples from the Web for unknowable

British Dictionary definitions for unknowable (1 of 2)

adjective

Derived forms of unknowable

British Dictionary definitions for unknowable (2 of 2)

noun