unanswerable en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (Mid-Atlantic, US) audio
- /ʌnˈɑːnsəɹəb(ə)l/ (UK)
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- English answer Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom Proto-Italic *-ðlom Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English answerable English unanswerable From un- + answerable.
Meanings
- Not answerable; impossible to answer.
-
Impossible to dispute or rebut; irrefutable; conclusive.
If I have not said much about it before, it was, of course, that the Professor's earnest desire was that no possible rumor of the unanswerable argument which we carried should be allowed to leak out until the moment came when his enemies were to be confuted.
1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:The map is never an unanswerable argument in transportation.
1926, Great Britain Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Economic Series, Issues 1-6, H.M. Stationery Office, page 75:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| unaunswerable | alternative, obsolete, rare | lexicographic | |
| more unanswerable | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most unanswerable | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Antonyms
answerable · refutable · disputable · inconclusive
Relateds
unanswerableness · unanswerability · answerless · unanswerably
Synonyms
Translations (14)
de antwortlos (not answerable; impossible to answer) · ro iresponsabil (not answerable; impossible to answer) · ga dosháraithe (impossible to dispute or rebut; irrefutable; conclusive) · pt irrespondível (impossible to dispute or rebut; irrefutable; conclusive) · de unbeantwortbar (not answerable; impossible to answer) · pt sem resposta/respostas (not answerable; impossible to answer) · pt irreplicável (impossible to dispute or rebut; irrefutable; conclusive) · nl antwoordloos (not answerable; impossible to answer) · pl bezsporny (impossible to dispute or rebut; irrefutable; conclusive) · pt irrespondível (not answerable; impossible to answer) · ga dofhreagartha (not answerable; impossible to answer) · ga dobhréagnaithe (impossible to dispute or rebut; irrefutable; conclusive) · pt irrefutável (impossible to dispute or rebut; irrefutable; conclusive) · nl onbeantwoordbaar (not answerable; impossible to answer)