unverifiability
Impossible to check
Unverifiability is the quality of being impossible to confirm or prove true.
A claim has unverifiability when no evidence could establish its accuracy: The unverifiability of his alibi made investigators suspicious.
The term appears often in philosophy, science, and journalism, where verifiable claims are prized and unverifiable ones treated with skepticism.
Without supporting evidence
- uncorroboratedNot confirmed by evidence
- undocumentedNot officially recorded
- untraceableImpossible to follow back
- anecdotalBased on casual observation
hearsay · unattested · unconfirmed · unsourced · unproven · unfounded · baseless · groundless
Guess from limited facts
- speculationUnproven theorizing or risky investment
- suppositionBelief without proof
- assumptionUnverified belief accepted as true
- hypothesisTestable proposed explanation
presupposition · postulate · inference · extrapolation · guesswork · surmise · theorization · presumption
State of being unsure
- ambiguityOpenness to multiple interpretations
- vaguenessAbsence of precision
- indeterminacyLack of fixed outcome
- inconclusivenessLack of definite outcome
equivocation · nebulosity · obscurity · opacity · irresolvability · inscrutability · impenetrability · murkiness
Immunity to disproof
- unknowabilityQuality of eluding understanding
- indeterminacyLack of fixed outcome
- subjectivityPersonal viewpoint coloring perception
- relativismContext-dependent truth doctrine
solipsism · agnosticism · skepticism · phenomenology · metaphysics · epistemology · ontology · nonempirical
Impossible to detect
- immeasurabilityState beyond quantification
- intangibilityCannot be physically felt
- undetectabilityImpossible to find
- imperceptibilityQuality beyond sensory detection
abstraction · ineffability · incorporeality · immateriality · impalpability · invisibility · insubstantiality
unsubstantiated
Without supporting evidence
- uncorroboratedNot confirmed by evidence
- undocumentedNot officially recorded
- untraceableImpossible to follow back
anecdotal · hearsay · unattested · unconfirmed · unsourced · unproven · unfounded · baseless · groundless · underdetermined
conjecture
Guess from limited facts
- speculationUnproven theorizing or risky investment
- suppositionBelief without proof
- assumptionUnverified belief accepted as true
hypothesis · presupposition · postulate · inference · extrapolation · guesswork · surmise · theorization · presumption · estimation
uncertainty
State of being unsure
- ambiguityOpenness to multiple interpretations
- vaguenessAbsence of precision
- indeterminacyLack of fixed outcome
inconclusiveness · equivocation · nebulosity · obscurity · opacity · irresolvability · inscrutability · impenetrability · murkiness
unfalsifiability
Immunity to disproof
- unknowabilityQuality of eluding understanding
- indeterminacyLack of fixed outcome
- subjectivityPersonal viewpoint coloring perception
relativism · solipsism · agnosticism · skepticism · phenomenology · metaphysics · epistemology · ontology · nonempirical · transcendental
unobservability
Impossible to detect
- immeasurabilityState beyond quantification
- intangibilityCannot be physically felt
- undetectabilityImpossible to find
imperceptibility · abstraction · ineffability · incorporeality · immateriality · impalpability · invisibility · insubstantiality
unverifiabilityverifiability
Capacity for independent confirmation
provability · demonstrability · knowability · testability · certifiability
unverifiabilityverifiability
Capacity for independent confirmation
falsifiability · observability · measurability · auditability · traceability
unverifiabilitytestability
Capacity for verification
falsifiability · refutability · observability · measurability · reproducibility
verify, verified, veracity, verification, verifiable, unverified, verity, verifier, unverifiable