Unmistakable Meaning
/ˌʌnmɪˈsteɪkəbəl/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjUnique, such that it cannot be mistaken for something else.
Sentence Examples
He bore an unmistakable reference to his father. It made his mother cry.
Tom's voice is unmistakable.
The chemistry between Layla and Sami was unmistakable.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The large, red stop sign was an ____ signal to drivers to halt.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The smell of fresh coffee is ____, and it always reminds me of my favorite cafe in the middle of town today.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- English mistake Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlis Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English unmistakable From un- + mistake + -able.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a strange, and for me, a most fortunate thing. Yet oddly enough I found here a far more unlikely substance, and that was camphor. I found it in a sealed jar, that, by chance, I supposed had been really hermetically sealed. I fancied at first the stuff was paraffin wax, and smashed the jar accordingly. But the odor of camphor was unmistakable."
— 1895 May 29, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter X, in The Time Machine: An Invention, London: William Heinemann, →OCLC:
"Whenever the locomotive was working hard there was unmistakable evidence of its higher power than its predecessors in the brilliant and explosive arcing between conductor shoes and the third rail; this was particularly vivid in Quarry Tunnel in the down direction, where the display equalled anything we have seen on the frostiest of nights in an electrified third-rail area."
— 1959 March, “The 2,500 h.p. electric locomotives for the Kent Coast electrification”, in Trains Illustrated, page 125:
"And while that number is expected to shift back slightly into positive territory over this decade, fewer children today establishes an unmistakable implication for tomorrow: fewer adults available as consumers, workers and taxpayers."
— 2021 April 23, Ronald Brownstein, “The racist ‘replacement theory’ has it all backward”, in CNN:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The large, red stop sign was an ____ signal to drivers to halt.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The smell of fresh coffee is ____, and it always reminds me of my favorite cafe in the middle of town today.