Word of the Day

: January 27, 2015

incontrovertible

adjective in-kahn-truh-VER-tuh-bul

What It Means

: not open to question : indisputable

incontrovertible in Context

The manager presented the clerk's time card as incontrovertible evidence that the employee had been late for work all five days the previous week.

"No matter where you are on the political spectrum, the midterm elections produced one incontrovertible fact-there are more women in Congress than ever before." - Editorial Board, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 16, 2014

Did You Know?

If something is indisputable, it's incontrovertible. But if it is open to question, is it controvertible? It sure is. The antonyms controvertible and incontrovertible are both derivatives of the verb controvert (meaning "to dispute or oppose by reasoning"), which is itself a spin-off of controversy. And what is the source of all of these controversial terms? The Latin adjective controversus, which literally means "turned against."