unverifiable
/' n'verifai bl/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Not capable of being verified or proven true: Describes information, claims, or evidence that cannot be checked, confirmed, or proven to be accurate or true through objective methods.
- Lacking objective confirmation: Refers to statements or data that are subjective, based on personal belief, or impossible to substantiate with factual evidence.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- The witness provided an unverifiable account of the events.
- His theory is interesting but remains unverifiable with current technology.
- Many historical claims from that era are unverifiable due to a lack of records.
Advanced Usage
- In academic or scientific contexts: Used to describe a hypothesis or claim that cannot be tested or falsified, thus falling outside the scope of empirical science.
- A theory that makes no testable predictions is considered unverifiable and unscientific.
- In legal or journalistic contexts: Refers to information that cannot be corroborated by reliable sources or evidence.
- The reporter could not publish the allegation because it was based on unverifiable sources.
Variants and Related Words
- Unverified (adj): Not yet confirmed or proven true, but with the potential to be verified. (Note: "Unverified" implies the possibility of future verification, while "unverifiable" implies it is fundamentally impossible).
- Verifiable (adj): Capable of being verified or proven true. (This is the direct antonym).
- Verify (v): To check or prove the truth or accuracy of something.
Synonyms
- Unconfirmable: Incapable of being confirmed.
- Unsubstantiated: Not supported or proven by evidence.
- Unprovable: Not able to be demonstrated as true.
Antonyms
- Verifiable: Capable of being verified.
- Provable: Able to be demonstrated as true.
- Confirmable: Able to be confirmed or corroborated.
- Empirical: Based on observation or experience rather than theory; verifiable.
Related Phrases and Concepts
- Unfalsifiable: A concept in the philosophy of science, similar to unverifiable, describing a statement that cannot be proven false. While related, "unfalsifiable" and "unverifiable" are distinct logical concepts.
- Anecdotal evidence: Evidence based on personal accounts, which is often considered unverifiable in a formal, scientific sense.
Adjective
- (of e.g. evidence) not objective or easily verified