unknowable

English

Etymology

From un- +‎ knowable.

Adjective

unknowable (comparative more unknowable, superlative most unknowable)

1. Not knowable; not able to be known.

   Synonyms: unintelligible; see also Thesaurus:incomprehensible

   Antonyms: knowable; see also Thesaurus:comprehensible

   • 2004, George Carlin, “NINETY-NINE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW”, in When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?‎^[1], New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 39:

     Number fourteen: Some of the things you need to know are things that are unknowable.

Related terms

• unknowability

Translations

not able to be known

• Gujarati: અલખ (gu) (alakh)
• Hindi: अज्ञेय (hi) (agyey)
• Russian: непостижимое (ru) (nepostižimoje)
• Spanish: incognoscible (es)
• Turkish: bilinmez (tr)

Noun

unknowable (plural unknowables)

1. Something that cannot be known.
   • 2011, Shehan Karunatilaka, Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew, Jonathan Cape, page 138:

     That night I think of other unknowables. How much love does one need in a lifetime? Is there a quantity of brain space that is allocated to love? And for those of us who have loved less, does this space become occupied by something else? Like cricket, or religion, perhaps.