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
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
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
-
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
-
As a result, the impenetrability of EU bureaucracies will continue to limit the United States’ ability to restructure transatlantic economic relations.—
JENNIFER KAVANAGH,
Foreign Affairs,
30 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
And that requires the opposite of inscrutability.—
Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson,
semafor.com,
6 Mar. 2026
-
His work marries a depth of thought with inscrutability, and for over 15 years, this has resulted in rap music that is ambitious and vulnerable while Staples comes off as ambivalent about it in interviews.—
Jesse David Fox,
Vulture,
13 Nov. 2025
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
-
What makes the legislation especially harmful, Ziegler said, is its vagueness.—
SOPHIA PAFFENROTH,
ABC News,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Details about the project are scant, but for someone like Kéré, that provisional vagueness would represent an opportunity.—
Justin Davidson,
Curbed,
1 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
When the profundity of the moment resists words, only the physical release of emotions will do.—
Courtney Crowder,
USA Today,
10 Apr. 2026
-
His practical advice fares better than both his theories and his pallid attempts at profundity.—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The Cubs did not officially make a roster move to add Riley to their active roster because of the murkiness of whether the game would be played.—
Meghan Montemurro,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Apr. 2026
-
Mahan and Villaraigosa are the only two Democrats who have publicly called to roll back regulations on the state’s oil and gas market, illustrating the political murkiness at the nexus of California’s climate and affordability challenges.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unknowability.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unknowability. Accessed 16 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
