uncertain

English

Etymology

From Middle English uncerteyn; equivalent to un- +‎ certain.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ʌnˈsɜːtn̩/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ʌnˈsɝtn̩/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)tən

Adjective

uncertain (comparative more uncertain, superlative most uncertain)

1. Not certain; unsure.
   • 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: […] T. Goodwin, B[enjamin] Tooke, and J. Pemberton, […]; J. Round […], and J[acob] Tonson] […], published 1720, →OCLC:

     Man, without the protection of a superior Being, […] is […] uncertain of everything that he hopes for.

2. Not known for certain; questionable.

   Tomorrow's weather is uncertain.

3. Not yet determined; undecided.
4. Variable and subject to change.
5. Fitful or unsteady.
   • 1914, Louis Joseph Vance, chapter III, in Nobody, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 1915, →OCLC:

     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 of a great and enervating fear.

6. Unpredictable or capricious.
   • 1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “(please specify the introduction or canto number, or chapter name)”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC:

     O woman! in our hours of ease, / Uncertain, coy, and hard to please!

Antonyms

• certain

Related terms

• uncertainly, uncertainty

Translations

not known for certain; questionable

• Bulgarian: неопределен (bg) (neopredelen)
• Catalan: incert (ca)
• Czech: nejistý
• Esperanto: necerta
• Finnish: epävarma (fi), kyseenalainen (fi)
• French: incertain (fr)
• Galician: incerto (gl)
• German: ungewiss (de), unsicher (de)
• Greek: αβέβαιος (el) (avévaios)

  Ancient: ἀβέβαιος (abébaios)

• Hungarian: bizonytalan (hu)
• Khmer: មិនប្រាកដប្រជា (min brakadabracha)
• Latin: incertus, ambiguus
• Macedonian: неизвесен (neizvesen)
• Maori: harapuka, taupetupetu, pōhauhau, matawaenga, hokirua, maunawenawe
• Ottoman Turkish: بللیسز‎ (bellisiz)
• Plautdietsch: onbestemt
• Polish: niepewny (pl), nieokreślony (pl)
• Portuguese: incerto (pt)
• Romanian: nesigur (ro), incert (ro)
• Russian: неопределённый (ru) (neopredeljónnyj), нея́сный (ru) (nejásnyj), неуве́ренный (ru) (neuvérennyj) (unsure)
• Scottish Gaelic: mì-chinnteach
• Spanish: incierto (es)
• Swedish: osäker (sv), tvivelaktig (sv)
• Turkish: şüpheli (tr)

not yet determined; undecided

• Bulgarian: несигурен (bg) (nesiguren)
• Catalan: incert (ca)
• Esperanto: necerta
• Finnish: epävarma (fi)
• French: incertain (fr)
• Galician: incerto (gl)
• Georgian: გაურკვეველი (gaurḳveveli)
• German: unbestimmt (de)
• Hungarian: bizonytalan (hu)
• Irish: éiginnte
• Maori: ngākaurua, maunawenawe, kūraruraru
• Polish: niepewny (pl), niezdecydowany (pl)
• Portuguese: incerto (pt), indeterminado (pt)
• Romanian: nedecis, indecis (ro)
• Russian: неопределённый (ru) (neopredeljónnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: mì-chinnteach
• Spanish: incierto (es)
• Turkish: belirsiz (tr)

variable and subject to change

• Bulgarian: неустановен (bg) (neustanoven)
• Catalan: incert (ca)
• Finnish: epävarma (fi)
• French: incertain (fr)
• Galician: incerto (gl)
• German: unbeständig (de), unsicher (de)
• Hungarian: bizonytalan (hu)
• Maori: pāhekeheke, ahurangi, kumukumu
• Portuguese: incerto (pt)
• Romanian: instabil (ro), inconstant (ro), nestatornic (ro), nestabil (ro)
• Scottish Gaelic: mì-chinnteach
• Spanish: incierto (es)

fitful or unsteady

• Bulgarian: нестабилен (bg) (nestabilen)
• Finnish: epävarma (fi), epävakaa (fi)
• German: unbeständig (de)
• Hungarian: bizonytalan (hu)
• Romanian: instabil (ro), neregulat (ro), variabil (ro)
• Russian: неусто́йчивый (ru) (neustójčivyj), нестаби́льный (ru) (nestabílʹnyj), изме́нчивый (ru) (izménčivyj), непостоя́нный (ru) (nepostojánnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: mì-chinnteach

unpredictable or capricious

• Bulgarian: неясен (bg) (nejasen), несигурен (bg) (nesiguren)
• Finnish: arvaamaton (fi)
• Galician: incerto (gl)
• German: unbeständig (de)
• Hungarian: bizonytalan (hu)
• Romanian: imprevizibil (ro)
• Russian: непредсказу́емый (ru) (nepredskazújemyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: mì-chinnteach

Noun

uncertain pl (plural only)

1. (with "the") Something uncertain.
   • 2011, John Lyons, The Phantom of Chance: From Fortune to Randomness in Seventeenth-Century French Literature‎^[1]:

     Thinking about the uncertain refines our perception of the certain, and generally this takes place in a framework in which the uncertain is the future and the certain is the present.

Anagrams

• N Centauri, centaurin, encurtain, runcinate