uncertain
adjective
- may or may not be true
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ʌnˈsɜːtən/ / /ʌnˈsɜɹ.tən/
adj
Etymology: From Middle English uncerteyn. By surface analysis, un- + certain.
- Not certain; unsure.
“Conſider man without the protection and conduct of a ſuperior Being, and he is ſecure of nothing that he enjoys in this world, and uncertain of every thing that he hopes for.”
- Not known for certain; questionable.
“Tomorrow's weather is uncertain.”
- Not yet determined; undecided.
- Variable and subject to change.
- Fitful or unsteady.
“Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.”
- Unpredictable or capricious.
“O, woman! in our hours of ease, / Uncertain, coy, and hard to please, / And variable as the shade / By the light quivering aspen made; […]”
noun
Etymology: From Middle English uncerteyn. By surface analysis, un- + certain.
- Something uncertain.
“Thinking about the uncertain refines our perception of the certain, and generally this takes place in a framework in which the uncertain is the future and the certain is the present.”