unclear

English

Etymology

From Middle English unclere, equivalent to un- +‎ clear. Compare Saterland Frisian uunkloor (“unclear”), West Frisian ûnklear (“inoperative, broken”), Dutch onklaar (“out of order, defective, broken”), German unklar (“unclear”), Danish uklar (“unclear”), Swedish oklar (“unclear”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ʌnˈklɪə(ɹ)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ʌnˈklɪɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)

Adjective

unclear (comparative unclearer or more unclear, superlative unclearest or most unclear)

1. Ambiguous; liable to more than one interpretation.

   The remark she made comparing her life with that of a fish was unclear.

2. Not clearly or explicitly defined.
3. Not easy to see or read; indecipherable or unreadable.

   From such a long distance away, the name on the signpost was unclear.

4. Not having a clear idea; uncertain.

   I'm still unclear about what she meant by that remark.

Derived terms

• unclear medicine
• unclearly (adv)

Translations

ambiguous; liable to more than one interpretation

• Belarusian: няя́сны (njajásny)
• Bulgarian: нея́сен (bg) (nejásen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不清 (zh) (bùqīng)

• Czech: nejasný (cs) m
• Finnish: monitulkintainen (fi), epäselvä (fi)
• German: unklar (de), unübersichtlich (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἀσαφής (asaphḗs)

• Hungarian: homályos (hu), ködös (hu)
• Italian: ambiguo (it), confuso (it)
• Macedonian: неја́сен (nejásen)
• Plautdietsch: onkloa
• Polish: niejasny (pl)
• Portuguese: confuso (pt)
• Romanian: neclar (ro), ambiguu (ro)
• Russian: нея́сный (ru) (nejásnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: нејасан

  Roman: nejasan (sh)

• Slovak: nejasný
• Slovene: nejasen
• Spanish: ambiguo (es), equívoco (es)
• Ukrainian: нея́сний (uk) (nejásnyj)
• Yiddish: אומקלאָר (umklor)

not clearly or explicitly defined

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不明顯／不明显 (zh) (bù míngxiǎn)

• Czech: nejasný (cs) m
• Finnish: epäselvä (fi)
• German: unklar (de)
• Greek: αδιευκρίνιστος (el) (adiefkrínistos)
• Hungarian: tisztázatlan (hu)
• Italian: vago (it), impreciso (it)
• Japanese: 不明 (ja) (fumei)
• Polish: niejasny (pl)
• Portuguese: confuso (pt)
• Russian: нея́сный (ru) (nejásnyj), непоня́тный (ru) (neponjátnyj)

not easy to see or read; indecipherable or unreadable

• Finnish: epäselvä (fi)
• German: undeutlich (de), unübersichtlich (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἀσαφής (asaphḗs)

• Italian: illeggibile (it), indecifrabile (it), incomprensibile (it)
• Maori: ngau (of speech), hākirikiri
• Russian: нечёткий (ru) (nečótkij), нея́сный (ru) (nejásnyj)
• Ukrainian: нечітки́й (nečitkýj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} onduidelijk (nl)
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} malklara
• French: ^{(please verify)} flou (fr)
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} anfhollas

Verb

unclear (third-person singular simple present unclears, present participle unclearing, simple past and past participle uncleared)

1. (transitive, rare) To undo the process of clearing.
   • 1998, Jeffrey J. Mayer, ACT! 4 for Windows for Dummies, page xx:

     Clearing, unclearing and deleting activities

   • 2012, Gerald DeJong, Investigating Explanation-Based Learning, page 108:

     […] finally [the block] would be cleared and remain that way until moved. Although this clearing and unclearing can occur repeatedly, the current BAGGER algorithm is unable to generalize number within unwindable subproofs.

Anagrams

• crenula, lucarne, nuclear