UNCERTAIN, UNCERTAINTY
ADJECTIVES
1300 — TICKLE not to be depended on; uncertain; unreliable; changeable; inconstant; capricious; fickle → obs. exc. Eng. dial.
1330 — DOUBTOUS — DOUTOUS doubtful; of uncertain existence, meaning, or issue → obs.
1400 — SLIDDERY changing, uncertain, fleeting → obs. exc. Eng. dial.
1456 — OPINABLE that is a matter of opinion; not certain, disputable, conjectural → obs.
1470 — UNCERTAINED uncertain, doubting → obs.
1521 — VACILLANT uncertain, hesitating, wavering
1529 — CASUAL subject to chance or accident; frail, uncertain, precarious → obs.
1543 — UNCERT uncertain → Sc. obs.
1553 — OPINIONATE based on opinion, or held in the way of opinion; conjectural, uncertain; supposed, fancied → obs.
1587 — DEBATEFUL of things: controversial, contentious, uncertain, questionable → obs.
1588 — OPINATIVE expressing opinion; conjectural, not certain → obs.
1589 — QUEASY of a matter: uncertain, hazardous → obs.
1606 — TICKLISH unstable, unsteady, unsettled, uncertain, fickle
1611 — CATCHING in an uncertain or precarious state
1615 — OPINIONABLE that is a matter of opinion, disputable, uncertain; → obs.
1624 — DUBITABLE doubtful, uncertain; open to doubt or question; capable of being doubted
1631 — LUBRIC slippery, shifty, deceitful; wavering, unsteady, uncertain; prone to danger or error → obs.
1652 — ANCIPITOUS doubtful, uncertain; ambiguous → obs.
1671 — UNBRANGLED not shaken or made uncertain → Sc. obs.
1703 — WISHY-WASHY uncertain; weak → UK
1727 — DUBITATIVE inclined or given to doubt; expressing doubt or hesitancy; doubting, uncertain
..19C — IZEY-TIZEY uncertain, wavering, undecided → Eng. dial.
1809 — QUAVERY-MAVERY in an uncertain or precarious condition; undecided, and hesitating how to decide
1818 — DUBEROUS dubious, doubtful, uncertain, suspicious → Eng. & Amer. dial.
1821 — ALL ABROAD uncertain, at a loss → Eng. sl.
1847 — NINNY-NONNY uncertain → Eng. dial. (Bk.)
1849 — CAZZARDLY — KAZZARDLY precarious, risky, uncertain → Eng. dial.
.M19 — SHADY uncertain, unreliable → sl., orig. university
1851 — DICKY of things, conditions, etc.: uncertain, doubtful, critical, hazardous; rickety, shaky, tottering
1861 — DODGY uncertain or unreliable; tricky → Aust. & NZ colloq.
1866 — AIVALOUS — AIVILOUS doubtful, uncertain → Sc. (Bk.)
1872 — BRICKLE changeable, uncertain; fickle, not trustworthy → Eng. & Amer. dial.
1873 — CAZZELTY precarious, risky, uncertain; unreliable, fickle, changeable → Eng. dial.
1874 — EYVY-KEYVY — HAVEY-CAVEY— HEAVY-CEAVY— HEIGHVY-KEIGHVY— HEIVY-KEIVY unsteady, trembling in the balance; uncertain, undetermined, doubtful, wavering, precarious → Eng. dial.
1880 — TITUBANT uncertain, doubting, hesitating, wavering
1884 — WOBBLY uncertain, undecided; risky → UK sl.
1887 — DACKER hesitating, uncertain, undecided; said of a person who can’t make up his mind, and to the weather when unsettled → Sc.
1895 — CASILTY insecure, shaky, uncertain → Eng. dial.
1899 — TIDDIE cross in temper; uncertain, crotchety; eccentric → Sc.
1900 — DARK doubtful, uncertain; unknown → Eng. dial. (Bk.)
1902 — KAIDLIN not firm, uncertain of step or motion; not in health → Eng. dial. (Bk.)
1903 — CHANCY doubtful, uncertain → Amer. dial.
1905 — ODDLING trifling, uncertain, dallying → Eng. dial. (Bk.)
1905 — OFF NOR ON neither one thing nor another; uncertain, vacillating → Eng. dial. (Bk.)
1927 — MISDOUBTFUL dubious, uncertain → Amer. dial.
1930 — BRICKLE changeable, uncertain → Amer. dial.
1930 — FITSY subject to attacks of temper, uncertain → Amer. dial.
1932 — FANKLED uncertain → Sc.
1945 — ALL IN THE WIND wavering, uncertain → World War II Amer. sl.
NOUNS
1297 — BALANCE subjective uncertainty; hesitation, wavering, doubt → obs.
1325 — DOUBTANCE doubt, uncertainty, hesitation → obs.
1330 — BALANCE objective uncertainty or suspense; risk, hazard → obs.
1374 — JEOPARDY an even chance; an undecided state of affairs; uncertainty; chance → obs.
1390 — TICKLENESS insecurity, instability; critical situation, precariousness; inconstancy; uncertainty → obs.
1450 — DUBITATION a doubting; doubt, uncertainty; hesitation
1450 — PERADVENTURE the possibility of a thing being so or not; uncertainty, doubt; a chance; a risk, hazard → arch.
1471 — VARIATION uncertainty, doubt → obs.
1535 — SWITHER to be uncertain; to falter; to be perplexed or undecided; to hesitate → Sc. & Eng. dial.
.M16 — QUANDARY a dilemma; a state of extreme uncertainty → sl.
1565 — FOG a state of mental uncertainty or obscurity
1601 — UNCERTAINNESS uncertainty
1614 — INASSURANCE want of assurance, uncertainty → obs.
1649 — DUBITANCY doubt, hesitation, uncertainty of opinion → obs.
1668 — VACILLANCY vacillation
1719 — SWITHER perplexity, indecision, hesitation; doubt, uncertainty → Sc. & Eng. dial.
..19C — IZEY-TIZEY uncertainty → Eng. dial.
1808 — DACKER uncertainty, a state of suspense or hesitation; also used of unsettled weather; a lull → Sc. obs.
1808 — MANK a moment’s uncertainty, a hesitation; a pother, a fuss, a to-do → Sc.
1859 — DUBIOSITY doubtfulness; uncertainty, ambiguity
1869 — QUESTION MARK a point about which there is uncertainty or doubt; an unresolved problem; also, a person whose character is unknown or unfathomable
1875 — MUCK a state of confusion or uncertainty; a morass → Amer. dial.
..20C — LUCKY DIP an undertaking of uncertain outcome → colloq.
1954 — TWILIGHT WORLD a world characterized by uncertainty, obscurity, or decline
1958 — CRAP SHOOT a situation or undertaking regarded as uncertain, risky, or unpredictable
1995 — GRAY AREA an unclear and uncertain issue → US sl. (Bk.)
PHRASES
1883 — YOU PAYS YOUR MONEY AND YOU TAKES YOUR CHOICE the proposition is very uncertain; take a good guess
VERBS
1477 — VARY to be uncertain, to hesitate → obs.
1646 — INDUBITATE to render doubtful or uncertain; to call in question → obs.
1709 — MAKE DOUBT to doubt, to be uncertain → obs.
1748 — EAT THE CALF IN THE COW’S BELLY to rely on something that is uncertain → sl.
1766 — BE AT A VARY to be at a loss; to feel uncertain → Sc. obs.
..19C — HANG IN THE WIND to subsist on uncertainty, to await events → Eng. dial.
1812 — STRING ALONG to keep a person waiting or in a state of uncertainty → colloq.
1819 — WAFFLE to waver, to be uncertain, undecided, or hesitant; to vacillate → Sc.& N. Eng. dial.
1898 — STAND UPON A HAIR to be within a very little, to be ‘touch and go’ with → Sc.
1905 — ODDLE to go about in an uncertain or useless way; to trifle → Eng. dial. (Bk.)
2000 — UM AND AH to hesitate, to be uncertain → UK sl.
2012 — FAFF to be uncertain or indecisive → Brit. sl. (Bk.)