uncertainty

English

Etymology

un- +‎ certainty.

Pronunciation

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Noun

uncertainty (countable and uncountable, plural uncertainties)

  1. (uncountable) Doubt; the condition of being uncertain or without conviction.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
      “Well,” I answered, at first with uncertainty, then with inspiration, “he would do splendidly to lead your cotillon, if you think of having one.” “So you do not dance, Mr. Crocker?” I was somewhat set back by her perspicuity.
    • 2012 April 9, Mandeep Sanghera, “Tottenham 1-2 Norwich”, in BBC Sport:
      After spending so much of the season looking upwards, the swashbuckling style and swagger of early season Spurs was replaced by uncertainty and frustration against a Norwich side who had the quality and verve to take advantage
  2. (countable) Something uncertain or ambiguous.
  3. (uncountable, mathematics) A parameter that measures the dispersion of a range of measured values.

Antonyms

Translations

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Further reading

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