Unknowable
adjective
Something that cannot be understood or known.
The origins of the universe remain largely unknowable.
Often appears as...
- quite unknowable
- nearly unknowable
adjective
Impossible to estimate or predict.
The outcome of the game was unknowable until the final minute.
Often appears as...
- completely unknowable
- absolutely unknowable
adjective
Something that cannot be revealed or disclosed.
The secret of the ancient civilization remains unknowable.
Often appears as...
- mysterious unknowable
- intriguingly unknowable
adjective
Something that cannot be understood or known.
The origins of the universe remain largely unknowable.
Often appears as...
- quite unknowable
- nearly unknowable
adjective
Impossible to estimate or predict.
The outcome of the game was unknowable until the final minute.
Often appears as...
- completely unknowable
- absolutely unknowable
adjective
Something that cannot be revealed or disclosed.
The secret of the ancient civilization remains unknowable.
Often appears as...
- mysterious unknowable
- intriguingly unknowable
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Philosophical Use
Used in discussions about existence, life's big questions and philosophical theories.
Philosophers debate whether true purpose is unknowable.
Pro Tip 2/3Intellectual Humility
Acknowledges the limits of human knowledge and understanding.
Even the greatest scientists admit some aspects of physics are unknowable.
Pro Tip 3/3Conveys Mystery
Adds a sense of mystery when describing something beyond comprehension.
The motives behind the artist's last painting are unknowable.
Pro Tip 1/3Philosophical Use
Used in discussions about existence, life's big questions and philosophical theories.
Philosophers debate whether true purpose is unknowable.
Pro Tip 2/3Intellectual Humility
Acknowledges the limits of human knowledge and understanding.
Even the greatest scientists admit some aspects of physics are unknowable.
Pro Tip 3/3Conveys Mystery
Adds a sense of mystery when describing something beyond comprehension.
The motives behind the artist's last painting are unknowable.
Pro Tip 1/3Philosophical Use
Used in discussions about existence, life's big questions and philosophical theories.
Philosophers debate whether true purpose is unknowable.
Pro Tip 2/3Intellectual Humility
Acknowledges the limits of human knowledge and understanding.
Even the greatest scientists admit some aspects of physics are unknowable.
Pro Tip 3/3Conveys Mystery
Adds a sense of mystery when describing something beyond comprehension.
The motives behind the artist's last painting are unknowable.
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Video examples
Anil Seth: How your...
of the hidden and ultimately unknowable sensory signals that reach my eyes. And just think about the redness itself, for a moment. Does the color red exist in the world? No, it doesn't. And we don't need neuroscience to tell us this. Newton discovered long ago that all the colors we experience,
Video examples
Your elusive creative...
You know, I think that allowing somebody, one mere person to believe that he or she is like, the vessel, you know, like the font and the essence and the source of all divine, creative, unknowable, eternal mystery is just a smidge too much responsibility to put on one fragile, human psyche.
Video examples
What it feels like to...
extended for 650 kilometers all the way into the sea, killing unknowable amounts of plant and animal life along the way. And lastly, here is a story related to the crisis in Syria, a conflict which has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions.
Video examples
Didier Sornette: How we...
Remember, black swan is this rare bird that you see once and suddenly shattered your belief that all swans should be white, so it has captured the idea of unpredictability, unknowability, that the extreme events are fundamentally unknowable. Nothing can be further
Video examples
Can love and independence...
of natural and spiritual forces that can shift the course of her existence without warning. And when she finally does find true love, these unknowable powers continue to act on her, threatening to destroy the life she's so painstakingly built.
Video examples
Mary's Room: A...
not unknowable qualia beyond physical explanation. But there still isn't a definitive answer to the question of whether Mary would learn anything new when she sees the apple. Could it be that there are fundamental limits to what we can know
Video examples
Your elusive creative...
or she is the vessel you know like the font and the essence and the source of all divine creative unknowable eternal mystery is just like a smidge too much responsibility to put on one fragile human psyche it's like asking somebody
Video examples
Scott McCloud:...
in my dad's big easy chair, you know? So, three types of vision, right? Vision based on what one cannot see, the vision of that unseen and unknowable. The vision of that which has already been proven or can be ascertained.
Video examples
Reframing Black History...
you know oh i love that that's a beautiful image i love that because that's the that's washing away all of that that inability to access the other you know that you feel unknowable but it's like you can get more of your
Video examples
My son was a Columbine...
the tragic fact is that even the most vigilant and responsible of us may not be able to help, but for love's sake, we must never stop trying to know the unknowable. Thank you.
Video examples
Anil Seth: How your...
of the hidden and ultimately unknowable sensory signals that reach my eyes. And just think about the redness itself, for a moment. Does the color red exist in the world? No, it doesn't. And we don't need neuroscience to tell us this. Newton discovered long ago that all the colors we experience,
Video examples
Your elusive creative...
You know, I think that allowing somebody, one mere person to believe that he or she is like, the vessel, you know, like the font and the essence and the source of all divine, creative, unknowable, eternal mystery is just a smidge too much responsibility to put on one fragile, human psyche.
Video examples
What it feels like to...
extended for 650 kilometers all the way into the sea, killing unknowable amounts of plant and animal life along the way. And lastly, here is a story related to the crisis in Syria, a conflict which has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions.
Video examples
Didier Sornette: How we...
Remember, black swan is this rare bird that you see once and suddenly shattered your belief that all swans should be white, so it has captured the idea of unpredictability, unknowability, that the extreme events are fundamentally unknowable. Nothing can be further
Video examples
Can love and independence...
of natural and spiritual forces that can shift the course of her existence without warning. And when she finally does find true love, these unknowable powers continue to act on her, threatening to destroy the life she's so painstakingly built.
Video examples
Mary's Room: A...
not unknowable qualia beyond physical explanation. But there still isn't a definitive answer to the question of whether Mary would learn anything new when she sees the apple. Could it be that there are fundamental limits to what we can know
Video examples
Your elusive creative...
or she is the vessel you know like the font and the essence and the source of all divine creative unknowable eternal mystery is just like a smidge too much responsibility to put on one fragile human psyche it's like asking somebody
Video examples
Scott McCloud:...
in my dad's big easy chair, you know? So, three types of vision, right? Vision based on what one cannot see, the vision of that unseen and unknowable. The vision of that which has already been proven or can be ascertained.
Video examples
Reframing Black History...
you know oh i love that that's a beautiful image i love that because that's the that's washing away all of that that inability to access the other you know that you feel unknowable but it's like you can get more of your
Video examples
My son was a Columbine...
the tragic fact is that even the most vigilant and responsible of us may not be able to help, but for love's sake, we must never stop trying to know the unknowable. Thank you.
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Martin Amis
British Author
Jane was my wicked stepmother: she was generous, affectionate and resourceful; she salvaged my schooling and I owe her an unknowable debt for that. One flaw: sometimes, early on, she would tell me things designed to make me think less of my mother, and I would wave her away, saying, 'Jane, this just backfires and makes me think less of you.
Quote examples
Elizabeth Gilbert
American Novelist
You know, I think that allowing somebody, one mere person to believe that he or she is like, the vessel you know, like the font and the essence and the source of all divine, creative, unknowable, eternal mystery is just a smidge too much responsibility to put on one fragile, human psyche. It's like asking somebody to swallow the sun.
Quote examples
Michael Sheen
Welsh Actor
Hamlet' is one of the most dangerous things ever set down on paper. All the big, unknowable questions like what it is to be a human being; the difference between sanity and insanity; the meaning of life and death; what's real and not real. All these subjects can literally drive you mad.
Quote examples
Michael Leunig
Australian Cartoonist
Perhaps life is actually more confusing and unknowable to an adult than a child, but grown-ups have learned to deceive themselves and act as if they understand what's going on; and some are elected to high office on the basis of their ability to create this impression.
Quote examples
Sam Esmail
American Director
The world is so heavily influenced by technology, and it has started to feel like it's not on solid ground. The world has become unreliable, unknowable. Facts are vulnerable, and things you have come to rely on are no longer there.
Quote examples
Andrew O'Hagan
Scottish Novelist
When I look back at my childhood on the Ayrshire coast, I recall a basic devotion to the idea that human nature and national character are as unknowable as the weather's rationale.
Quote examples
Leo Strauss
German Philosopher
If the highest things are unknowable, then the highest capacity or virtue of man cannot be theoretical wisdom.
Quote examples
Joseph Barber Lightfoot
English Theologian
It is strange to reflect how much energy is thrown away in attempting to know the unknowable.
Quote examples
H. L. Mencken
American Writer
Theology is the effort to explain the unknowable in terms of the not worth knowing.
Quote examples
Leonard Bernstein
American Composer
Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable.
Quote examples
Martin Amis
British Author
Jane was my wicked stepmother: she was generous, affectionate and resourceful; she salvaged my schooling and I owe her an unknowable debt for that. One flaw: sometimes, early on, she would tell me things designed to make me think less of my mother, and I would wave her away, saying, 'Jane, this just backfires and makes me think less of you.
Quote examples
Elizabeth Gilbert
American Novelist
You know, I think that allowing somebody, one mere person to believe that he or she is like, the vessel you know, like the font and the essence and the source of all divine, creative, unknowable, eternal mystery is just a smidge too much responsibility to put on one fragile, human psyche. It's like asking somebody to swallow the sun.
Quote examples
Michael Sheen
Welsh Actor
Hamlet' is one of the most dangerous things ever set down on paper. All the big, unknowable questions like what it is to be a human being; the difference between sanity and insanity; the meaning of life and death; what's real and not real. All these subjects can literally drive you mad.
Quote examples
Michael Leunig
Australian Cartoonist
Perhaps life is actually more confusing and unknowable to an adult than a child, but grown-ups have learned to deceive themselves and act as if they understand what's going on; and some are elected to high office on the basis of their ability to create this impression.
Quote examples
Sam Esmail
American Director
The world is so heavily influenced by technology, and it has started to feel like it's not on solid ground. The world has become unreliable, unknowable. Facts are vulnerable, and things you have come to rely on are no longer there.
Quote examples
Andrew O'Hagan
Scottish Novelist
When I look back at my childhood on the Ayrshire coast, I recall a basic devotion to the idea that human nature and national character are as unknowable as the weather's rationale.
Quote examples
Leo Strauss
German Philosopher
If the highest things are unknowable, then the highest capacity or virtue of man cannot be theoretical wisdom.
Quote examples
Joseph Barber Lightfoot
English Theologian
It is strange to reflect how much energy is thrown away in attempting to know the unknowable.
Quote examples
H. L. Mencken
American Writer
Theology is the effort to explain the unknowable in terms of the not worth knowing.
Quote examples
Leonard Bernstein
American Composer
Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable.
Example 1 of 10
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