imponderability
- noun
- /ɪmˌpɒndəˈræbɪlɪti/
- Formal
:
imponderabilidad
- That visual imponderability, or incommensurability, and the corresponding rise in fascination with mechanical phantasmagoria, opens up an entire sphere of the world that can neither be "brought back into focus" nor "brought back to earth" (Castle 30).
Examples
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It obviously wants decisions in its favor, and if sanctions provide such decisions without the imponderabilities of jury deliberations, even better.
Blog text (32) -
The imponderability of her feelings made it hard for her to decide what to do next.
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Scientists often struggle with the imponderability of factors that influence climate change.
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The imponderability of luck played a major role in the outcome of the game.
Synonyms
2
9.8
An unknown factor that you cannot predict or measure exactly
Something that cannot be measured, predicted, or counted
Being too large or great to know exactly
A factor that cannot be seen or measured directly
How Measurable
Surface Forms
Morphology
imponderability = imponderable (semi-transparent) = im + ponder + able + ity
Formally derived from 'imponderable' + '-ity', but the root 'ponder' is more commonly known as 'to think' than 'to weigh', which may confuse some learners.
Etymology
The word imponderability comes from im- 'not', ponder 'to weigh', and -ability 'able to be'. So an imponderability is something you cannot 'weigh' or measure, like luck or public feeling, and that is why we use it for things too hard or impossible to estimate.