indeterminate
11
7.0
- adjective
- /ˌɪndɪˈtɜːrmɪnət/
:
indeterminado
- Indeterminate estimates make Houston anxious.
- indeterminate responses
- indeterminate meaning
- indeterminate number
The most effective public spaces are to some extent indeterminate, ambiguous, messy.
- The most effective public spaces are to some extent indeterminate, ambiguous, messy.
- It seems there isn't an answer because the law is indeterminate.
- So it's sort of reacting to what it's in to an extent, but the reason it's reacting in that way is indeterminate.
- We are at the same time strong, but we don't use all of the strength that we could use indeterminate choices and situations.
- Because I can just as well make the opposite conform to my indeterminate, tautological knowledge and make that the law right.
Examples
-
Hell, the good folks at the lab are paying me disability leave... of indeterminate duration.
-
Once again we need a language that is more than the indeterminate.
Academic text (2017) -
"There are four months of cold and four of heat, "leaving four months of indeterminate temperature.
-
As an artistic statement, the work was based on chance and indeterminate patterns.
Academic text (1993) -
It's one thing to know you're going to die at some point... in the indeterminate future, another to watch the clock wind down.
-
There is no Mr. Leaver, apparently; at some indeterminate time in the past, he headed for the hills.
Fiction book (1994) -
I am therefore committing him to Mackinock for an indeterminate sentence.
-
The most effective public spaces are to some extent indeterminate, ambiguous, messy.
-
The founders were not about to prescribe solutions to indeterminate problems in unknowable circumstances in the indefinite future.
Academic text (1991) -
The results of the experiment were indeterminate, leaving scientists puzzled about the next steps.
Synonyms
328
5.3
Not easy to see, hear, or understand
230
4.6
Not clear or detailed so you are unsure what is meant
149
2.8
Not known for sure and likely to change
57
5.1
Made or said without being fully certain, often as a trial
55
6.5
Gives no clear decision or result
39
4.0
Not clearly fixed or known, with no set end date
27
4.8
Something that does not give clear details
26
8.1
Not certain or reliable
20
4.6
Not yet decided or known
14
5.5
Not exact or clear enough to be useful
10
7.9
Unclear and hard to picture or describe
8
5.3
Not clearly limited or described
5
6.5
Not clearly or exactly stated
4
6.9
Hard to describe or explain in words
3
6.8
Hard to describe exactly in words
1
7.8
Impossible to measure or show with a number
1
6.2
Too large or without clear limits to say how big it is
1
7.7
You cannot know for sure
1
7.7
Not clearly or fully described so important details are missing
Not clearly separated from other things and lacking clear edges
It is not possible to know for sure
Impossible to describe exactly
Not measured or given an exact amount
Antonyms
How Defined
Surface Forms
Morphology
indeterminate = determinate (semi-transparent) = in + determin + ate
With the base adjective 'determinate' known, the prefix 'in-' clearly forms the opposite meaning.
Etymology
Indeterminate comes from in- 'not' and determine 'to decide' or 'to set a limit'. So when something is indeterminate it is 'not decided' or 'not fixed', which is why the word means vague or uncertain.