unclear
/ʌnˈklɪɚ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.93 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Ambiguous; liable to more than one interpretation.
adj
Not clearly or explicitly defined.
adj
Not easy to see or read; indecipherable or unreadable.
Example Sentences
- "The remark she made comparing her life with that of a fish was unclear."
- "From such a long distance away, the name on the signpost was unclear."
- "I'm still unclear about what she meant by that remark."
- "Clearing, unclearing and deleting activities"
- "[…] finally [the block] would be cleared and remain that way until moved. Although this clearing and unclearing can occur repeatedly, the current BAGGER algorithm is unable to generalize number within unwindable subproofs."
Etymology
From Middle English unclere, equivalent to un- + clear. Compare Saterland Frisian uunkloor (“unclear”), West Frisian ûnklear (“inoperative, broken”), Dutch onklaar (“out of order, defective, broken”), German unklar (“unclear”), Danish uklar (“unclear”), Swedish oklar (“unclear”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: unclere
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ʌnˈklɪɚ/
- British English: /ʌnˈklɪə(ɹ)/
Usage
Inflected Forms
unclearer (comparative)
more unclear (comparative)
unclearest (superlative)
most unclear (superlative)
unclears (present, singular)
unclearing (participle, present)
uncleared (participle, past)
uncleared (past)