What does uncertainty mean?

Definitions for uncertainty
ʌnˈsɜr tn tiun·cer·tain·ty

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word uncertainty.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. uncertainty, uncertainness, precariousnessnoun

    being unsettled or in doubt or dependent on chance

    "the uncertainty of the outcome"; "the precariousness of his income"

  2. doubt, uncertainty, incertitude, dubiety, doubtfulness, dubiousnessnoun

    the state of being unsure of something

Wiktionary

  1. uncertaintynoun

    doubt; the condition of being uncertain or without conviction.

  2. uncertaintynoun

    Something uncertain or ambiguous.

  3. uncertaintynoun

    A parameter that measures the dispersion of a range of measured values.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Uncertaintynoun

    All great concernments must delays endure;
    Rashness and haste make all things unsecure;
    And if uncertain thy pretensions be,
    Stay till fit time wear out uncertainty. John Denham.

    You common cry of curs, whose breath I hate,
    Here then remain with your uncertainty;
    Let ev’ry feeble rumour shake your hearts. William Shakespeare.

    That which makes doubtfulness and uncertainty in the signification of some, more than other words, is the difference of ideas they stand for. John Locke.

    God’s omniscience is a light shining into every dark corner, stedfastly grasping the greatest and most slippery uncertainties. Robert South, Sermons.

    Our shepherd’s case is every man’s case, that quits a moral certainty for an uncertainty, and leaps from the honest business he was brought up to, into a trade he has no skill in. Roger L'Estrange.

ChatGPT

  1. uncertainty

    Uncertainty refers to the state of being uncertain or unsure, lacking complete certainty or absolute knowledge about something. This mainly occurs due to the lack of information, predictability, or clarity, leading to ambiguity or potential outcomes being unpredictable or unknown. In various fields such as physics, economics, statistics, and philosophy, uncertainty has specific interpretations but generally, it conveys similar notions of doubt, variability, and risk.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Uncertaintynoun

    the quality or state of being uncertain

  2. Uncertaintynoun

    that which is uncertain; something unknown

Wikidata

  1. Uncertainty

    Uncertainty is a term used in subtly different ways in a number of fields, including physics, philosophy, statistics, economics, finance, insurance, psychology, sociology, engineering, and information science. It applies to predictions of future events, to physical measurements that are already made, or to the unknown.

U.S. National Library of Medicine

  1. Uncertainty

    The condition in which reasonable knowledge regarding risks, benefits, or the future is not available.

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'uncertainty' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4149

  2. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'uncertainty' in Nouns Frequency: #1514

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

How to pronounce uncertainty?

How to say uncertainty in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of uncertainty in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of uncertainty in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of uncertainty in a Sentence

  1. Chief Executive Officer Murilo Ferreira:

    We are prepared to confront the challenges of 2016 caused by demand uncertainty and commodities price volatility, we are expecting to go cash-flow positive starting in 2017 while gradually reducing our debt and increasing dividends.

  2. William Lee:

    The 'leave' outcome has introduced substantial uncertainty that likely would dampen U.S. growth by delaying and or reducing business investment and consumption expenditures.

  3. Michael Frazis:

    Markets are quite likely to muddle through from here, the vaccine is increasingly priced in. A couple of months ago, no one knew how deep coronavirus would be, or what the outcome of the election was. Now both sources of uncertainty have been removed.

  4. Zhang Gang:

    There are several factors pushing financial shares lower today, but uncertainty over the meaning of Zhou Xiaochuan's comments for the equity market is one.

  5. William Lee:

    That high level of trade uncertainty is causing manufacturing firms to be reticent to make investments. That high degree of uncertainty is a drag on U.S. growth, the real issue is that China wants respect. China wants a face-saving way of coming to the table.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

uncertainty#1#7863#10000

Translations for uncertainty

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

Get even more translations for uncertainty »

Translation

Find a translation for the uncertainty definition in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Word of the Day

Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?

Please enter your email address:


Citation

Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"uncertainty." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 15 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/uncertainty>.

Discuss these uncertainty definitions with the community:

0 Comments

    Are we missing a good definition for uncertainty? Don't keep it to yourself...

    Image or illustration of

    uncertainty

    Credit »

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Chrome

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Firefox

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a words master?

    »
    an impression that something might be the case
    A hunch
    B sweep
    C breastwork
    D hypernym

    Nearby & related entries:

    Alternative searches for uncertainty: