as in impenetrability
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of unknowability
But some of the most exciting and shocking findings in this field underscore the unknowability of certain truths, even within a system that has been carefully built from the ground up.
—
Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 26 May 2026
In defense, the Shirilla family’s lawyer opted for a bench trial instead of a jury trial, and prevented Mackenzie from taking the stand, hoping her blackout condition—and the sheer fact of unknowability in the final moments—would be enough to prove her innocence.
—Jake King-Schreifels, Time, 15 May 2026
These two flavors of unknowability, which originated decades apart and in different fields, were long considered completely unrelated.
—Ben Brubaker, Quanta Magazine, 11 May 2026
For Rachel, who has always feared the unknown, there is liberation in accepting this inherent unknowability.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 27 Mar. 2026
Kyle’s complexity—her unknowability—is what has made her the franchise’s central character for fifteen years.
—Literary Hub, 24 Feb. 2026
Chrisjen's unknowability is her super-strength.
—Richard Edwards, Space.com, 14 Dec. 2025
Zhao’s adaptation, at its best, embraces the unknowability of this premise.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 27 Nov. 2025
Instead, what makes the triptych of thematically connected snapshots memorable is its deftly unfussy observation of the unknowability that can endure among people who share the same bloodlines.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 31 Aug. 2025
Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 26 May 2026
In defense, the Shirilla family’s lawyer opted for a bench trial instead of a jury trial, and prevented Mackenzie from taking the stand, hoping her blackout condition—and the sheer fact of unknowability in the final moments—would be enough to prove her innocence.
—Jake King-Schreifels, Time, 15 May 2026
These two flavors of unknowability, which originated decades apart and in different fields, were long considered completely unrelated.
—Ben Brubaker, Quanta Magazine, 11 May 2026
For Rachel, who has always feared the unknown, there is liberation in accepting this inherent unknowability.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 27 Mar. 2026
Kyle’s complexity—her unknowability—is what has made her the franchise’s central character for fifteen years.
—Literary Hub, 24 Feb. 2026
Chrisjen's unknowability is her super-strength.
—Richard Edwards, Space.com, 14 Dec. 2025
Zhao’s adaptation, at its best, embraces the unknowability of this premise.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 27 Nov. 2025
Instead, what makes the triptych of thematically connected snapshots memorable is its deftly unfussy observation of the unknowability that can endure among people who share the same bloodlines.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 31 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unknowability
- impenetrability
- inscrutability
- incomprehensibility
- mysteriousness
- unintelligibility
- vagueness
- profundity
- murkiness
Noun
-
What The Dark Wizard does differently is grapple with Potter’s impenetrability without being able to resolve it, and consider how that indecision might change our perceptions of his life and his May 2015 death while BASE jumping in Yosemite.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
7 May 2026
-
Byrne is generous with his time and attention, but there’s also a Warholian air of mystery about him—a gentle impenetrability, a feeling of separateness.—
Amanda Petrusich,
New Yorker,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
In the same way that audiences are trying to unpack the central scheme — or interlocking set of schemes — at the center of Paula’s newfound predicament, so was the Emmy-winning Maslany drawn to the inscrutability of her character.—
Natalie Oganesyan,
Deadline,
24 May 2026
-
What these critics don’t reckon with enough is that inscrutability is also a feature of the world.—
Luis Parrales,
The Atlantic,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
This was only the start of the incomprehensibility of this segment.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
That intrigue and mysteriousness still rest in the canyon walls today.—
Madison Dapcevich,
Outside,
13 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Patches of unintelligibility are nothing new in Pynchon, but usually a coherent world view gleams upward from the murk.—
Kathryn Schulz,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
When the transcript is the record, ideas can propagate on merit, and people can no longer hide behind vagueness.—
Lutz Finger,
Forbes.com,
25 May 2026
-
On the other hand, the statement is emblematic of the uninteresting vagueness of Spider-Noir‘s world-building.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
22 May 2026
Noun
-
Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto let a day’s stroll linger into profundity, the twilight dimming and human connection brewing in all its possibilities.—
Joshua Rothkopf,
Los Angeles Times,
22 May 2026
-
Love Island had shifted what had previously been an unshakable self-identification and stumbled into comic profundity.—
Anna Peele,
Vulture,
20 May 2026
Noun
-
As Raul grapples with telling the story of Elsa’s life, he’s confronted by the murkiness of borrowing from real people for the purposes of fiction.—
Baz Bamigboye,
Deadline,
19 May 2026
-
After Daniel Jones tore his ACL late last season, the quarterback position has some murkiness for the Colts entering 2026.—
Nick Harris,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unknowability.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unknowability. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
