unascertainable
English edit
Etymology edit
From un- + ascertainable.
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌʌnæsəˈteɪnəbl̩/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˌʌnæsɚˈteɪnəbl̩/
Adjective edit
unascertainable (comparative more unascertainable, superlative most unascertainable)
- That cannot be ascertained; uncertain, unable to be determined or discovered.
- 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.19:
- Everything one would wish to know of the relations of Aristotle and Alexander is unascertainable, the more so as legends were soon invented on the subject.
- 1967 February 25, Hannah Arendt, “Truth and Politics”, in The New Yorker, page 84:
- Reality is different from, and more than, the totality of facts and events, which, anyhow, is unascertainable.
- 1980 September 15, Mikva, Big Mama Rag Inc v. United States[1]:
- The regulation's vagueness is especially apparent in the last clause quoted above. That portion of the test is expressly based on an individualistic—and therefore necessarily varying and unascertainable—standard: the reactions of members of the public.