unclear

CEFRB1

/ʌnˈklɪə(ɹ)/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Difficult to understand, see, or know exactly.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Not clearly or explicitly defined.

Examples

  • What he said is still unclear to me.

  • Their scope and shape is unclear.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
2

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Not easy to see or read; indecipherable or unreadable.

  2. Ambiguous; liable to more than one interpretation.

  3. Not having a clear idea; uncertain.

More examples

In context

  • From such a long distance away, the name on the signpost was unclear.

  • I'm still unclear about what she meant by that remark.

  • The remark she made comparing her life with that of a fish was unclear.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The instructions were blank, so many people made mistakes when building the shelf.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

From Middle English unclere, equivalent to un- + clear. Compare Saterland Frisian uunkloor (“unclear”), West Frisian ûnklear (“inoperative, broken”), Dutch onklaar (“out of order, defective, broken”), German unklar (“unclear”), Danish uklar (“unclear”), Swedish oklar (“unclear”).