Link Centre Dictionary

unclear

unc·lear

UK/ʌnˈklɪə(ɹ)/ US/ʌnˈklɪɚ/ fairly common

adjective

1.

poorly stated or described

  • “he confuses the reader with ill-defined terms and concepts”
Synonyms
Antonyms
2.

not clear to the mind

  • “the law itself was unclear on that point”
  • “the reason for their actions is unclear to this day”
Antonyms
Similar
3.

not easily deciphered

  • “indecipherable handwriting”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

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”).

Phrases

  • unclear medicine

Related words

Word family

See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.