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
-
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:
Its chief ambition is endurance: it must survive transit, uncertain demand and an unknowable stretch between gates.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
Indeed, that was effectively unknowable because, as the NYPD’s chief of detectives told reporters, they had learned that the bomb could’ve been timed to go off anywhere in the 12 hours prior to actual detonation.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
One of his colleagues' frustrations with him has always been that he seems unknowable.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
Because future healthcare costs are unknowable, the best you can do is stress-test your plan against a range of scenarios.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 15, 2026
The villagers remembered Matty as a fun-loving young man who had been destroyed when he fought the evil, unknowable forces that had menaced the village in those harsher times, seven years earlier.
From "Son" by Lois Lowry
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
But Spencer's Unknowable, notwithstanding its negative prefix, is the Ultimate Reality, and does all that is in any way done.
From Spencer's Philosophy of Science The Herbert Spencer Lecture Delivered at the Museum 7 November, 1913 by Morgan, C. Lloyd (Conwy Lloyd)
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.
