uncertain
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English uncerteyn; equivalent to un- + certain.
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ʌnˈsɜːtn̩/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ʌnˈsɝtn̩/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)tən
Adjective edit
uncertain (comparative more uncertain or (rare) uncertainer, superlative most uncertain or (uncommon) uncertainest)
- Not certain; unsure.
- 1664, John Tillotson, “Sermon I. The Wisdom of Being Religious. Job XXVIII. 28.”, in The Works of the Most Reverend Dr. John Tillotson, Late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury: […], 8th edition, London: […] T. Goodwin, B[enjamin] Tooke, and J. Pemberton, […]; J. Round […], and J[acob] Tonson] […], published 1720, →OCLC, page 20:
- Conſider man without the protection and conduct of a ſuperior Being, and he is ſecure of nothing that he enjoys in this world, and uncertain of every thing that he hopes for.
- Not known for certain; questionable.
- Tomorrow's weather is uncertain.
- Not yet determined; undecided.
- Variable and subject to change.
- Fitful or unsteady.
- 1914, Louis Joseph Vance, “Accessary after the Fact”, in Nobody, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 1915, →OCLC, page 48:
- Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.
- Unpredictable or capricious.
- 1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “Canto Sixth. The Battle.”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC, stanza XXXI, page 362:
- O, woman! in our hours of ease, / Uncertain, coy, and hard to please, / And variable as the shade / By the light quivering aspen made; […]
Antonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
not known for certain; questionable
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not yet determined; undecided
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variable and subject to change
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fitful or unsteady
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unpredictable or capricious
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Noun edit
uncertain pl (plural only)
- (with "the") Something uncertain.
- 2011, John Lyons, The Phantom of Chance: From Fortune to Randomness in Seventeenth-Century French Literature[1]:
- Thinking about the uncertain refines our perception of the certain, and generally this takes place in a framework in which the uncertain is the future and the certain is the present.