uncertainty

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English

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Etymology

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From Middle English uncerteynte; equivalent to un- +‎ certainty or uncertain +‎ -ty.

Pronunciation

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  • (UK) IPA(key): /ʌnˈsɜːtənti/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ʌnˈsɝtənti/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

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uncertainty (countable and uncountable, plural uncertainties)

  1. (uncountable) Doubt; the condition of being uncertain or without conviction.
    • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 51:
      “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
    • 2018 May 17, “Corbynomics would change Britain—but not in the way most people think”, in The Economist‎[1]:
      Piecing together Corbynomics is difficult, not least because it has evolved during Mr Corbyn’s time in charge of Labour. The gulf between the Labour leadership’s past positions and the milder proposals in the manifesto means that enormous uncertainty hangs over what a Corbyn-led government would do in office.
    • 2024 January 10, Howard Johnston, “Launched for enthusiasts - now it's for everyone”, in RAIL, number 1000, page 28:
      It's a full circle. Over the past 43 years, RAIL has reported on how the railways have gone from uncertainty under government control to sectorisation, privatisation, and back to uncertainty under government control.
  2. (countable) Something uncertain or ambiguous.
    • 2023 December 27, Philip Haigh, “All eyes are on the DfT as rolling stock concerns deepen”, in RAIL, number 999, page 19:
      Despite these uncertainties, Clarke told MPs he was convinced of the need to order trains powered by batteries. He said: "We're calling for a 'no regrets' order of battery trains because we see them always having a future. We see them being fundable, financeable, similar cost to diesel trains, and we know that however much electrification we would aspire to do, there's always going to be at least a third of the network that isn't electrified.
  3. (uncountable, mathematics) A parameter that measures the dispersion of a range of measured values.

Synonyms

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Antonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Further reading

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