Standard Lemma guide

unknowable

adj · noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: /ʌnˈnoʊ.ə.bəl/
  • rhymes with -əʊəbəl
  • CMU ARPABET: AH0 N N OW1 AH0 B AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Not knowable; not able to be known.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: unintelligible, abstruse, Chinese, dense, enigmatic, fathomless, Greek, inapprehensible, incognizable, incomprehensible, ineffable, inenubilable, inexplicable, impenetrable, insensible, inscrutable, insoluble, insolvable, mysterious, nonunderstandable, obscure, retruse, tenebrose, thick, undecipherable, undiscoverable, unexplainable, unfathomable, ungraspable, unknowable, ununderstandable

Antonyms: knowable, apprehensible, clear, limpid, comprehensible, explainable, explicable, explicatable, fathomable, graspable, illuminable, intelligible, lucid, pellucid, perspicuous, straightforward, tangible, understandable

2

noun

Meaning 2

Something that cannot be known.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective

Meaning 3

not knowable

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the unknowable mysteries of life

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: knowable

History

Etymology

From un- + knowable.

Across languages

Translations

6 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Gujarati: અલખ (alakh) — not able to be known
  • Hindi: अज्ञेय (agyey) — not able to be known
  • Russian: непостижи́мый (nepostižímyj) — not able to be known
  • Russian: непознава́емый (nepoznavájemyj) — not able to be known
  • Spanish: incognoscible — not able to be known
  • Turkish: bilinmez — not able to be known