English

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Etymology

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From un- +‎ foreseeability.

Noun

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unforeseeability (uncountable)

  1. Inability to be predicted or anticipated.
    • 2003 May 28, Jim Porter, "Making sense of the rules of law," www.sierrasun.com (retrieved 20 Sep. 2011):
      An Indiana appellate court, affirming a lower court’s decision, dismissed the suit, for reasons that include the unforeseeability of the accident.
    • 2009 December 6, Matt Richtel, “A Victim’s Daughter Takes the Cellphone Industry to Court”, in New York Times, retrieved 20 September 2011:
      No man is responsible for that which no man can control. (The unforeseeability defense).
    • 2009, Bert Olivier, Philosophy and Psychoanalytic Theory: Collected Essays, →ISBN, pages 139–140:
      This is what Derrida calls the ‘messianic’ structure of experience. . . the tacit possibility that the ‘other’ (or otherness) may surprise one. . . . [T]he very structure of experience exhibits this unforeseeability.
    Synonym: unforeseeableness
    Antonyms: foreseeability, foreseeableness

Usage notes

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  • Often used in contexts involving matters of law.