uncertain
Syllables: un·cer·tainUK/ʌnˈsɜːtən//ʌnˈsɜɹ.tən/
uncertain adjective: not certain; unsure.
Adjective
uncertain (comparative more uncertain or (rare, nonstandard) uncertainer, superlative most uncertain or (rare, nonstandard) uncertainest)
- Not certain; unsure.
- Conſider man without the protection and conduct of a ſuperior Being, and he is ſecure of nothing that he enjoys in this world, and uncertain of every thing that he hopes for.1664, John Tillotson, “Sermon I. The Wisdom of Being Religious. Job XXVIII. 28.”, in The Works of the Most Reverend Dr. John Tillotson, Late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury: […], 8th edition, London...
- Synonyms:
- unascertained, shaky
- Not known for certain; questionable.
- Tomorrow's weather is uncertain.
- Not yet determined; undecided.
- Synonyms:
- unascertained
- Variable and subject to change.
- Fitful or unsteady.
- Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp...1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter III...
- Unpredictable or capricious.
- O, woman! in our hours of ease, / Uncertain, coy, and hard to please, / And variable as the shade / By the light quivering aspen made; […]1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “Canto Sixth. The Battle.”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William...
Noun
uncertain (uncountable)
- Something uncertain; everything uncertain.
- Near-synonyms: uncertainty (countable sense), uncertainties
- Their approach to the uncertain is laudable: they at least want to know the upper and lower bounds for what the answer could turn out to be.
- Synonyms:
- uncertainty, uncertainties
uncertain meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
uncertain in Hindi
- not known for certain; questionable
- अनिश्चित aniścit
- not yet determined; undecided
- अनिश्चित aniścit
- unpredictable or capricious
- अनिश्चित aniścit
uncertain in Tamil
- உறுதியற்ற, உறுதியில்லாத, ஐயத்திற்கிடமளிக்கிற, நிலையற்ற
uncertain in Marathi
- अनिश्चित
uncertain in Urdu
- uncertain
- مردد muraddad
More languagesFewer languages
- uncertain in Bengali
- অনিশ্চিত
- uncertain in Telugu
- అనిశ్చయము aniścayamu
- uncertain in Malayalam
- അനിശ്ചിതമായ, സന്ദിഗ്ദ്ധ, അജ്ഞാതമായ, തർക്കത്തിന് അവകാശമുള്ള
- uncertain in Kannada
- ಕಂಡಿತ ತಿಳಿದಿರದ, ನಂಬಲಾಗದ, ನೆಚ್ಚಲಾಗದ, ಮಾರ್ಪಡದ
- uncertain in Punjabi
- ਅਨਿਸ਼ਚਿਤ
- uncertain in Gujarati
- અનિશ્ચિત
- uncertain in Odia
- ଅନିଶ୍ଚିତ, ଅନିଶ୍ଚିତ |
- uncertain in Sanskrit
- अस्थिर asthira, अनित्य anitya
- uncertain in Thai
- ไม่แน่นอน mâi-nɛ̂ɛ-nɔɔn, คลุมเคลือ klum-krʉʉa, ลังเล lang-lee, ไม่มั่นคง mâi-mân-kong
Examples of uncertain in a sentence
- In very ancient or poorly documented languages, the precise semantics of words tend to be uncertain.
- The Court questioned the opportunity of introducing these measures in such an uncertain economic climate.
- I told her in no uncertain terms that it was none of her business.
Synonyms of uncertain
Antonyms
Forms of uncertain
| comparative | more uncertain |
|---|---|
| superlative | most uncertain |
| comparative (nonstandard, rare) | uncertainer |
| superlative (nonstandard, rare) | uncertainest |
Origin of uncertain
From Middle English uncerteyn. By surface analysis, un- + certain.
Words formed from uncertain
Words that rhyme with uncertain
Questions about uncertain
- What does uncertain mean?
- Uncertain means not certain; unsure.
- What is uncertain in Hindi?
- Uncertain in Hindi is अनिश्चित (aniścit). See Uncertain meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is uncertain?
- Uncertain can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce uncertain?
- Uncertain is pronounced /ʌnˈsɜːtən/ (UK).
Words near uncertain in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: uncertain (page history and authors); uncertain (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); uncertain (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); مردد (Urdu) (page history and authors); Uncertain (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); అనిశ్చయము (Telugu) (page history and authors); uncertain (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); uncertain (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); uncertain (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); uncertain (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); uncertain (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); अनित्य (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-uncertain.ogg.
Cite this entry: “uncertain.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/uncertain. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.