unsolvable

adjective

un·​solv·​able ˌən-ˈsäl-və-bəl How to pronounce unsolvable (audio)
-ˈsȯl-
Synonyms of unsolvablenext
: not able to be explained, answered for, or solved : not solvable
unsolvable disputes
an unsolvable mystery
unsolvably adverb
an unsolvably difficult problem

Examples of unsolvable in a Sentence

an apparently unsolvable problem
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Google recently showed that increasing the number of qubits actually lowered mistakes, a long-standing challenge that many thought was unsolvable. Chuck Brooks, Forbes.com, 13 June 2026 Prices are again rising at more than double the Federal Reserve’s target, but this isn’t an unsolvable problem. Editorial Board, Washington Post, 10 June 2026 Those issues are the city’s seemingly unsolvable budget crisis, trash pickup fees, paid parking in Balboa Park and allowing large ADU developments in neighborhoods of single-family homes. David Garrick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 June 2026 Your proof rests on two famous sets of premises—Gödel’s incompleteness theorems, which found that every mathematical system will have statements that can never be proven, and Turing’s undecidability result for the halting problem, which found that some problems are inherently unsolvable. IEEE Spectrum, 4 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for unsolvable

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1775, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of unsolvable was circa 1775

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Unsolvable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unsolvable. Accessed 21 Jun. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster