uncertainty

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Noun

uncertainty (countable and uncountable, plural uncertainties)

(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 222716698, 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:
  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.
(countable) Something uncertain or ambiguous.
(uncountable, mathematics) A parameter that measures the dispersion of a range of measured values.

Synonyms

uncertainness

Antonyms

certainty

Translations

doubt; the condition of being uncertain

Albanian: please add this translation if you can
Armenian: please add this translation if you can
Belarusian: няўпэўненасць f (njaŭpeŭnjenascʹ), сумнеў m (sumnjeŭ), паняверка f (panjavjerka)
Catalan: incertesa f
Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Czech: nejistota f
Danish: usikkerhed c
Dutch: onzekerheid (nl) f
Esperanto: necerteco, malcerteco
Estonian: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: epävarmuus (fi)
French: incertitude (fr) f
Galician: incerteza f
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: Unsicherheit (de) f, Ungewissheit (de) f
Greek: αβεβαιότητα (el) f (avevaiótita)
Ancient: ἀδηλότης f (adēlótēs)
Hungarian: bizonytalanság (hu)
Italian: incertezza (it) f
Korean: 불확실 (bulhwaksil)
Latin: incertum n
Latvian: please add this translation if you can
Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
Maori: kumukumu
Norwegian:
Nynorsk: uvisse f
Polish: niepewność (pl) f
Portuguese: incerteza (pt) f
Romanian: incertitudine (ro), nesiguranță (ro)
Russian: неуве́ренность (ru) f (neuvérennostʹ), сомне́ние (ru) n (somnénije)
Scottish Gaelic: mì-chinnt f
Slovak: please add this translation if you can
Spanish: incertidumbre (es) f, incerteza (es) f
Swedish: osäkerhet (sv) c
Tagalog: dikatiyakan
Turkish: please add this translation if you can
Ukrainian: невпе́вненість f (nevpévnenistʹ), непе́вність f (nepévnistʹ), неви́значеність f (nevýznačenistʹ)

Something uncertain or ambiguous

German: Unsicherheit (de) f
Korean: 불확실한 것 (bulhwaksilhan geot)
Portuguese: incerteza (pt) f
Russian: неуве́ренность (ru) f (neuvérennostʹ), нея́сность (ru) f (nejásnostʹ), неопределённость (ru) f (neopredeljónnostʹ)

(mathematics) A parameter that measures the dispersion

Russian: погре́шность (ru) f (pogréšnostʹ), нето́чность (ru) f (netóčnostʹ), неопределённость (ru) f (neopredeljónnostʹ)
Tagalog: dikatiyakan

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Dutch: ^{(please verify)} onzekerheid (nl) f