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My dictionary tells me that there is no such word in English. So, what word would you substitute for unclearity below (please, don't change anything else):

— There is still something not clear to me in this business. How do they get their profits back if they themselves never come back?
— Well, this unclearity was in fact the very reason why I decided to call this meeting tonight.

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10 Answers 10

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9

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned "unclarity", which is the word I would use.

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  • @Colin Fine - Oh boy! It was simply a mere misspelling! I can't believe it! What an anecdote! It's just sooo funny!!! :) :) :)
    – brilliant
    Commented Apr 27, 2011 at 17:40
  • 1
    This is not a common word. Most dictionaries appear not to list it, although Merriam-Webster does. Michael Quinion has a page about the word unclarity.
    – mgkrebbs
    Commented Apr 27, 2011 at 19:19
  • Indeed, it's not neither in the OED, nor in the OALD. :|
    – Alenanno
    Commented Apr 27, 2011 at 20:08
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    @brilliant: yes, unclarity is perfectly natural given the root and affixes. Clear, clarity, and unclear are all common words; nonetheless, unclarity is uncommon (although it would be understood). In fact, the phrase lack of clarity is much more common than the word unclarity, as shown in this interesting historical chart. Such is natural language.
    – mgkrebbs
    Commented Apr 28, 2011 at 6:25
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    @Alenanno: it is indeed in the OED. Not as a headword, but as a separate entry under "un-", with three citations (two of them being the Webster's entry from 1934 and the quotation from Smiley's People, both of them mentioned by Quinion.
    – Colin Fine
    Commented Apr 28, 2011 at 12:00
9

You may mean uncertainty:

uncertainty |ˌənˈsərtntē| noun ( pl. -ties) the state of being uncertain : times of uncertainty and danger. • (usu. uncertainties) something that is uncertain or that causes one to feel uncertain : financial uncertainties.

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9

You could use obscurity, such that:

Well, this obscurity was in fact the very reason why I decided to call this meeting tonight.

Which is defined and exemplified over on The Free Dictionary as:

The quality or condition of being imperfectly known or difficult to understand: "writings meant to be understood . . . by all, composed without deliberate obscurity or hidden motives" (National Review).

Or, ambiguity, from the same source as above:

Doubtfulness or uncertainty as regards interpretation: "leading a life of alleged moral ambiguity" (Anatole Broyard).

Or, you could use palpable, I guess:

Easily perceived; obvious

So that the sentence becomes:

Well, this lack of palpability was in fact the very reason why I decided to call this meeting tonight.

But this does alter the sentence more than you desire, just an option.

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4
  • 3
    How about lack of clarity?
    – Benjol
    Commented Apr 27, 2011 at 11:39
  • @Benjol - I think that one is also good, but I was more after a single word.
    – brilliant
    Commented Apr 27, 2011 at 11:41
  • @brilliant Many EL&U questions seek a single word, when really there isn't a single word that a native speaker would use. In many, many cases, the obvious multiple word phrase is the better choice.
    – slim
    Commented Jan 3, 2012 at 18:52
  • Having said that, there's also obfuscation.
    – slim
    Commented Jan 3, 2012 at 18:53
4

If you mean "the fact that it was not clearly understandable", then the synonyms can be:

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1
  • 4
    Opacity is another way to say opaqueness.
    – Mitch
    Commented Apr 27, 2011 at 11:50
2

If Wiktionary is to be believed, then disclarity is a word, albeit an uncommon one.

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2

How about "question?"

This question was the reason....

In fact, the "unclear item" is "how will they get their profits back if they themselves never come back?" and that item is a "question." The meeting will, presumably, provide an "answer."

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1
  • @user7872 - Your suggestion I think is more than acceptable, but it may bear a connotation that the question had been voiced even prior to the idea of calling a meeting, while in my example it could be so that the question was voiced (=articulated=asked) for the first time during the meeting (in other words, the unclarity was there, but nobody dared to look at it (=ask about it)).
    – brilliant
    Commented Apr 28, 2011 at 4:32
1

Haziness

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1

For this example, I would use the word "mystery":

— There is still something not clear to me in this business. How do they get their profits back if they themselves never come back?

— Well, this mystery was in fact the very reason why I decided to call this meeting tonight.

While "obscurity" would be a good descriptor for an explanation that fails to satisfy: "Your reasoning is obscure", in this case, there is no explanation mentioned (or implied), so there is nothing to be obscure...it's a mystery (or a phenomenon).

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0

I think you're looking for opacity.

In air or liquid, it's turbidity.

Linguistically, deliberate effort to obscure is obliquidy, obliquate

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/obliquity https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/turbidity https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/obliquate

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2
  • You should include a dictionary definition/link for each suggested word.
    – KillingTime
    Commented Aug 17, 2021 at 20:25
  • Seems a trifle condescending, but, if it's trendy/fashionable in here, I've submitted. Should I also mention highlighting the word in question, right-clicking and searching?
    – Bigfoot Ballfan
    Commented Aug 17, 2021 at 21:54
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For another way to describe unclarity I would use promiscuity? The Free Dictionary defines it partly as:

Indiscriminate mingling, mixture, or confusion, as of parts or elements

For example:

Your answer was a little promiscuous, can you explain in more detail please?

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5
  • This would not make sense in that position.
    – Matt E. Эллен
    Commented Sep 4, 2012 at 11:12
  • Why couldn't promiscuity be used in that situation?
    – limitlessloop
    Commented Sep 15, 2012 at 22:38
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    No native speaker would describe an answer as promiscuous.
    – Matt E. Эллен
    Commented Sep 15, 2012 at 23:47
  • Is that because promiscuity is often described with people and not situations? The Collins English Dictionary says, "Promiscuous – consisting of a number of dissimilar parts or elements mingled in a confused or indiscriminate manner". Perhaps I'm missing something?
    – limitlessloop
    Commented Sep 19, 2012 at 13:25
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    Your choice of meaning is defined in the OED as archaic and rare. That's all I mean.
    – Matt E. Эллен
    Commented Sep 19, 2012 at 13:36

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