untenable

adjective

un·ten·a·ble ˌən-ˈte-nə-bəl

Synonyms of untenable next

: not able to be defended

an untenable position

: not able to be occupied

untenable apartments

untenability

ˌən-ˌte-nə-ˈbi-lə-tē

noun

Did you know?

Untenable and its opposite tenable come to us from Old French tenir ("to hold, have possession of") and ultimately from Latin tenēre ("to hold, occupy, possess"). We tend to use untenable in situations where an idea or position is so off base that holding onto it is unjustified or inexcusable. One way to hold onto the meaning of untenable is to associate it with other tenēre descendants whose meanings are associated with "holding" or "holding onto." Tenacious ("holding fast") is one example. Others are contain, detain, sustain, maintain, and retain.

Example Sentences

The Agriculture Department is in an untenable position. With the two hats that it wears—one to protect consumer health and the other to help farmers sell food—it cannot tell us to eat fewer calories. After all, fewer calories generally mean less food, which would fly in the face of the department's mandate to help farmers. —

Marian Burros, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2002

But scholars are citizens, too, and if it is wrongheaded to demand political payoff from basic research, it would be equally untenable to demand that research be quarantined from the real-world considerations that weigh so heavily upon us. —

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., New York Times, 4 Apr. 1998

All the theories of the Moon's origin proposed before the Apollo Moon landings of 1969 … became untenable when the rocks returned from the Moon proved to be as old as the Earth and significantly dissimilar. —

Physics Today, January 1997

The problem was then resolved—not by finding that the conduct in question was justified, because that would have offended the judge's sense of order, and not by rejecting the applicability of the defense, which would have led to a reportable opinion and an appeal—but through a dismissal of the charges on the wholly untenable ground that the prosecution had not proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. —

Edward N. Costikyan, New York Times Book Review, 13 Mar. 1988

Recent Examples on the Web The trips run in all but the height of summer (December to early March in in southern Africa), when heat, rain, and mosquitos make the voyage untenable. —

Elizabeth Heath, Travel + Leisure, 17 Apr. 2023 Eventually, the unintended consequences of America’s most popular street tree became untenable. —

Maeghan Dolph, Fox News, 25 Mar. 2023 Holding that territory was becoming untenable, according to military analysts. —

Ian Lovett, WSJ, 15 Nov. 2022 His shooting resembled the kind that ultimately made his Lakers tenure untenable: 46% from the field, 25% on three-pointers. —

Andrew Greif, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2023 The consistent increases over the past few years may seem untenable—like the bubble will have to burst soon—but a Toyota executive thinks the average is only going to continue rising. —

Caleb Miller, Car and Driver, 28 Mar. 2023 Silvergate is in the process of shutting down its operations after a run on its deposits and regulatory concerns made its business untenable. —

David Benoit, WSJ, 27 Mar. 2023 Balenciaga was also a refugee, who relocated to France when the Spanish Civil War made business untenable. —

Lauren Collins, The New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2023 But the situation eventually became untenable, with bathrooms left a mess, food taken from restaurants, and occasional fistfights. —

BostonGlobe.com, 31 Jan. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'untenable.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.