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untenable

untenable

27 8.2
Impossible to defend against criticism
  • adjective
  • /ʌnˈtɛnəbl/
translation icon : insostenible
  • And that's what made my position untenable.
  • untenable position
  • untenable situation
  • untenable argument

The right and the left both hold untenable views about the economy.

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Examples

  • I think the DEI view of the world is untenable in the long run in this country, and I think the people who adhere to it are desperate.

  • After the scandal, his position in the organization became untenable and he had to resign.

  • The right and the left both hold untenable views about the economy.

  • And they have left us in this untenable position.

  • Our marriage has become untenable.

  • However, scholars have pointed out several untenable errors in the court's analysis.

    Academic text (1994)
  • Justice Scalia has also identified himself with this view, but the position is similarly untenable.

    Academic text (2008)
  • But this postwar strategy of economic expansion became increasingly untenable by the mid-1980s.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Considering the military aspects of the situation, we have agreed that with fewer than 400 men, to defend a perimeter of over 2 miles, the position is untenable.

  • Socialists and capitalists alike considered these maldistributions untenable, albeit for very different reasons.

    Academic text (2008)

Synonyms

indefensible
vsuntenable
24 7.5

People cannot show a decision or action is right when others criticize it

shares exactly the same meaning as the key concept
unjustifiable
vsuntenable
5 6.8

You cannot show it is right or acceptable

focuses on being indefensible against criticism rather than general wrongness
unsupportable
vsuntenable
4 6.8

No one can show it is right

is the same idea focused on failing to be defended in debate
insupportable
vsuntenable
  • Formal
2 7.8

Impossible to defend or accept without proof

is the same sense but used more for arguing lack of defence
undefendable
vsuntenable
1 7.4

Too weak to be protected from attack or criticism

shares exactly the same meaning as the key concept
1 8.1

An action or comment that no one can give a good reason for

is similar but does not add the extreme intensity of totality
unwarrantable
vsuntenable
1 9.2

Cannot be shown to be right or fair

is broader, covering failure to withstand criticism rather than authority alone
undefensible
vsuntenable
7.7

Not possible to show as right or acceptable

shares exactly the same meaning as the key concept
nonsustainable
vsuntenable
7.9

Cannot be supported by proof or good reasons

overlaps but emphasizes long term maintenance rather than instant refutation
unsubstantiatable
vsuntenable
9.9

Not able to be proved with evidence

is broader, applying to failing against criticism not only lack of evidence
unmaintainable
vsuntenable
  • Formal
7.9

Not able to be defended in an argument or court

focuses on being indefensible in argument rather than on continued validity

Antonyms

tenable
  • Formal
5 7.1

Has good reasons or evidence that stand up to criticism

How Tenable

defensible
19 5.5
tenable
  • Formal
5 7.1
debatable
34 5.0
weak
69 1.0
untenable
27 8.2
indefensible
24 7.5

Surface Forms

untenable positive

Morphology

untenable = tenable (transparent) = un + tenable

A straightforward negation using the productive prefix 'un-' applied to 'tenable'; the meaning is directly derived.

Etymology

Untenable breaks into un- 'not' and tenable, which comes from an old word meaning 'to hold' and is the same root behind words like retain and tenant. So something untenable cannot be 'held' or defended, which is why the word now means a position or idea you cannot protect from criticism.