unaccountable

/'ʌnə'kauntəbl/

Thân thiện

A sudden, unaccountable feeling of dread made her pause in the hallway.

Definition

1. 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.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. free from control or responsibility
2. not to be accounted for or explained
   • perceptible only as unaccountable influences that hinder progress
   • an unexplainable fear

Từ đồng nghĩa

• unexplainable