uncertain

From Middle English uncerteyn; equivalent to un- +‎ certain.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ʌnˈsɜːtn̩/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ʌnˈsɝtn̩/

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• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)tən

uncertain (comparative more uncertain or (rare) uncertainer, superlative most uncertain or (uncommon) uncertainest)

1. Not certain; unsure.
   • 1664, John Tillotson, “Sermon I. The Wisdom of Being Religious. Job XXVIII. 28.”, in The Works of the Most Reverend Dr. John Tillotson, Late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury: […], 8th edition, London: […] T. Goodwin, B[enjamin] Tooke, and J. Pemberton, […]; J. Round […], and J[acob] Tonson] […], published 1720, →OCLC, page 20:

     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.

2. Not known for certain; questionable.

   Tomorrow's weather is uncertain.

3. Not yet determined; undecided.
4. Variable and subject to change.
5. Fitful or unsteady.
   • 1914, Louis Joseph Vance, “Accessary after the Fact”, in Nobody, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 1915, →OCLC, page 48:

     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.

6. Unpredictable or capricious.
   • 1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “Canto Sixth. The Battle.”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC, stanza XXXI, page 362:

     O, woman! in our hours of ease, / Uncertain, coy, and hard to please, / And variable as the shade / By the light quivering aspen made; […]

• certain

• uncertainly, uncertainty

uncertain pl (plural only)

1. (with "the") Something uncertain.
   • 2011, John Lyons, The Phantom of Chance: From Fortune to Randomness in Seventeenth-Century French Literature‎:

     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.

• N Centauri, centaurin, encurtain, runcinate