unaccountable
/'ʌnə'kauntəbl/
Definition
- Adjective:
- Not able to be explained or understood; mysterious: Describes something that lacks a clear or rational reason.
- Free from control, responsibility, or the need to justify actions: Describes a person or entity not held to account or answerable to others.
Usage and Examples
- Meaning: Not able to be explained:
- For some unaccountable reason, the door was locked from the inside.
- She felt an unaccountable sadness when she heard the news.
- Meaning: Free from responsibility:
- The committee was unaccountable to the public for its decisions.
- In that role, he had unaccountable power over the budget.
Advanced Usage
- "unaccountable to": Not required to explain or justify actions to a specific person or group.
- The agency is largely unaccountable to elected officials.
- "for some unaccountable reason": A common phrase used to introduce an action or feeling that has no obvious explanation.
- For some unaccountable reason, he decided to leave early.
Variants and Related Words
- Unaccountably (adverb): In a way that cannot be explained.
- The weather turned unaccountably cold for May.
- Accountable (adjective): (Antonym) Required or expected to justify actions or decisions; responsible.
- Managers are accountable for their team's performance.
Synonyms
- Inexplicable: Impossible to explain or understand.
- Inscrutable: Impossible to understand or interpret.
- Unanswerable: Not able to be answered or refuted.
Different Meanings and Nuances
- The primary meaning relates to a lack of explanation (inexplicable).
- A secondary, more formal meaning relates to a lack of oversight or responsibility (not answerable). The context usually makes the intended meaning clear.
Idioms and Phrases
- An unaccountable feeling: A sudden emotion that arises without an obvious cause.
- A wave of unaccountable joy washed over her.
- Render someone/something unaccountable: To place a person or institution in a position where they are not subject to normal checks or oversight.
- The new law could render the security services unaccountable.
Adjective
-
free from control or responsibility
-
not to be accounted for or explained
-
perceptible only as unaccountable influences that hinder progress
-
an unexplainable fear
-
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