unanswerable

adjective

un·​an·​swer·​able
ˌən-ˈan(t)s-rə-bəl,
-ˈan(t)-sə- How to pronounce unanswerable (audio)
: not capable of being answered
also : irrefutable
unanswerability
ˌən-ˌan(t)s-rə-ˈbi-lə-tē
-ˌan(t)-sə- How to pronounce unanswerable (audio)
noun
unanswerably
ˌən-ˈan(t)s-rə-blē
-ˈan(t)-sə- How to pronounce unanswerable (audio)
adverb

Examples of unanswerable in a Sentence

the unanswerable assertion that she didn't know much about art but she knew what she liked
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.
But there are still many questions that remain unanswerable until New York Golf Club and The Bay Golf Club walk through smoke and light before the league’s first match. Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 7 Jan. 2025 Conditional questions are unanswerable, especially in markets. Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 23 Dec. 2024 Fertility connects perhaps the most significant decision any individual might make with unanswerable questions about our collective fate, so a theory of fertility is necessarily a theory of everything—gender, money, politics, culture, evolution. Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2025 To be included, a question needs to be unanswerable by all existing models. Tharin Pillay, TIME, 24 Dec. 2024 See All Example Sentences for unanswerable

Word History

First Known Use

1613, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of unanswerable was in 1613

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Cite this Entry

“Unanswerable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unanswerable. Accessed 11 Apr. 2025.

Kids Definition

unanswerable

adjective
un·​an·​swer·​able ˌən-ˈan(t)s-(ə-)rə-bəl How to pronounce unanswerable (audio)
ˈən-
: not answerable
especially : irrefutable
the arguments were unanswerable

More from Merriam-Webster on unanswerable

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