untenability
Noun: The state or quality of being untenable; that is, incapable of being defended, maintained, or justified against attack or criticism. It refers to a position, argument, theory, or situation that cannot be successfully supported or sustained.
- (The inability to defend this belief logically or factually.)
- (The argument could no longer be maintained as valid.)
- (The plan could not be held or defended in practice.)
"the untenability of a position": used in formal, academic, or legal contexts to indicate a stance that cannot be logically or practically upheld.
- The committee reviewed the policy and agreed on the untenability of its current framework. (The policy could not be justified or continued.)
"to prove the untenability of": to demonstrate that something is indefensible.
- The scientist's experiment proved the untenability of the earlier hypothesis. (The hypothesis could not withstand scrutiny.)
Untenable (adj): not able to be maintained or defended against attack or objection.
- The argument was untenable, as it relied on false assumptions. (The argument could not be defended.)
Tenable (adj): capable of being held, maintained, or defended (opposite of untenable).
- Only a tenable theory can be accepted by the scientific community. (A defensible theory.)
- Indefensibility: the quality of being impossible to defend.
- Unjustifiability: the state of not being able to be justified.
- Unsupportability: the condition of lacking support or evidence.
"on shaky ground": in a weak or uncertain position, similar to untenability.
- His explanation was on shaky ground, as it contradicted known facts. (His position was not defensible.)
"to hold no water": to be invalid or unsound, often used for arguments.
- The claim that the project was profitable holds no water. (The claim is untenable.)